Question about overbite--would you buy?

[Marsha Cassada]

I am looking at a horse to buy. I only keep two horses, and this will be my second horse, hopefully for many years. If you liked just about everything about the horse but he has an overbite, would you still consider him as a driving gelding prospect? Would you pay a lot for him? He is a 4 year old stallion now, and being used for breeding. He doesn't know anything about driving, but I think he is a good prospect.

 

[kaykay]

For ME no I would not buy a driving prospect with a bad bite.

 

[minimomNC]

If his bite is off to much then it could affect how this molars sit in his mouth which would in turn hinder how the bit would sit too. If you had other options I would check those out first. Hopefully with him being used for breeding, his bite isn't off by more than an half a tooth.

 

[stormy]

If I were looking for a performance gelding an off bite would not bother me if the horse had everything else I am looking for. That said I would have a dental exam done on this boy, at his age esp caps can put the bite off, some good dental work may correct him.

 

[Matt73]

I'd buy him and geld him if he was stunning in every other way

I wouldn't breed him, though.

 

[Littleum]

As long as it isn't so severe as to affect how he carries the bit, I wouldn't care.

My big horse friends are totally baffled by why us Mini people get so paranoid about bites. Our bite standards are VERY strict to the point of being silly. A bite can be off quite a bit more then what we'd considerable acceptable and a horse can still be able to eat/work/play just fine.

The only real concern I would have is that if it was off considerably and he's not broke to drive, I'd only have a vet/dentist's best guess about it. I'd rather see a horse who has an off bite (or any notable issue, really) demonstrate they can carry the bit comfortably & without issue, rather then hoping for the best.

Although I'm curious as to why the current owner is using him for breeding. I sure as heck hope he/she is disclosing to buyers of his foals that daddy has a bad bite!

 

[Minimor]

I'm reluctant to buy any horse that has a bad bite. Of course they can have a bad bite & still eat normally, and they can stay in good condition and they can carry a bit and be driven. However, an off bite probably means the horse is going to need more frequent dental work and I'm not inclined to buy any horse that is likely to need dental work at least 2 times a year.

I had a Morgan/TB gelding that was parrot mouthed--quite bad, but not so bad that he couldn't have been worse. He had major problems with hooks on his molars, and in order for me to ride him in a bit he had to have his teeth done twice a year. The rest of the horse would have to be pretty special before I'd buy another one with his bite issue!

 

[Jill]

For a performance gelding prospect, an off bite would not make me turn down the right horse. Not at all... Many full size and mini size performance horses have less than perfect bites. There are so many other things that would take priority on my list in looking for a performance gelding and the bite would be way down my list. An off bite actually rarely effects bitting (per my vet, anyway).

 

[Riverdance]

I guess one would have to define overbite. Some people think that if the horses upper teeth are a bit forward of the lower teeth it is considered an overbite. Most horses actually, do not have an even bite. Which is perfectly acceptable with AMHA (AMHR does not check bites). If the upper teeth are just forward of the lower teeth or vise virsa (about the distance of 1/2 a tooth), the bite is perfectly acceptable.

For a driving horse, unless it is a parrot mouth, there should be no problems.

 

[barnbum]

I have a 4 year old filly with an underbite. (she'll not be bred) She's been checked by two dentists and several vets. No work has ever been done, except to remove woof teeth. Her molars line up perfectly, which is why no one has ever wanted to file incisors. But every person has given the go ahead to drive her. She has NO trouble eating--I've listened to her pull grass before--and she bites it with the front teeth somehow, just like everyone else.

I'd make sure the molars are lined up, and if they are, then buy the stallion.

 

[LaVern]

I want my horse to be ever so slightly over on the top when checked with head up. When they lower their heads to eat, the bottom jaw drops down and the front teeth meet up flush to pull that grass. Not parrot mouthed though just slightly over. Under shot- never would I buy one. You see people raise the head to cover up undershots.

As far as driving I have been told that is not the front teeth you have to worry about, but rather the ones that might not allow the jaw to move back for a correct headset. I don't know if that is right, that is just what the tooth man told me.

 

[jimi]

I would not let this stop me from buying a driving horse , but if he was a stallion I would not breed with him and have him gelded for driving.

There have been many ponies and full sized horses shown in harness classes that had an overbite or underbit and certainly never had any effect on their style and ways of going , and unless extreme no effect on eating habits and the one I had required no more dental work than the rest.

 

[Annabellarose]

If you really like this horse and you can live with his bite, I'd say buy him, buy him, buy him! If you are uncomfortable making the leap on your knowledge alone, have a vet or an equine dentist or a trusted, knowledgeable farrier (farriers are often an underrated wealth of knowledge on all things horse, especially their "mechanical parts" LOL) out to look at him as part of a pre-purchase exam (most sellers will allow a buyer to do a pre-purchase exam at the buyer's expense). Since your goal for him is to drive and since that will require that he carry a bit, be sure to make that clear to the vet/dentist/farrier, so that they take that into consideration when they look at him for you. My knee-jerk reaction was, "Why are they breeding this horse!?", but if he is a superior specimen in many other ways, it might not rule him out as a stallion prospect in my mind either. I would MUCH rather have a horse with well-built hips/hindquarters (which he better have if you are considering him for a driving horse!) and straight legs than a horse without those things and a good bite. That bite will not get you and your cart around the arena or down the street! I just gelded a super cute, super tiny yearling colt (that I bought at a sale last year strictly as a pet/companion for my other horses) with a FABULOUS, PERFECT bite and a FABULOUS head and neck, but with a HORRIBLE, WEAK hip/hindquarter and crooked front legs. I would bet DOLLARS TO DONUTS that an idiot/several idiots in his breeding past thought it was okay to breed otherwise junk horses with good bites. :arg! I got into Miniature Horses coming straight from the "big"/performance horse world without much of a break (I still own "big"/performance horses as well) and I can't believe the junk that some Miniature Horse people breed and claim their merits. SAD.

 

[Boinky]

I've had two horses in my years with what i'd consider SEVERE underbites. I probably wouldn't have bought them but they were given to me. They both were caused supposidly by malnutrition. One i know for a fact the horse was starved as a foal/yearling because I rescued her so i would suspect that's true (she was a big horse) and the other was supposidly but of course i got her with some between owners. Both had very mangled messed up teeth as well. BOTH were excellent riding/driving horses as well. I know that off teeth can cause bitting issues but I never had issues with either of these and they absolutely were fabulous horses under saddle/harness and as far as i could tell never had any discomfort from being bitted. If i were not looking for a breeding horse I wouldn't nessasarily overlook one with some bite issues.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Thanks, everyone, for your good advice and opinions.