Spencer LaFlure aka "The Tooth Fairy"

[SilverDollar]

Quite a few people I know have used Spencer LaFlure, an "Equine Dentist", to float their horses' teeth. None of these people I know have miniature horses so all the work has been done on full-size horses. Spencer is not a vet, but does sometimes "lightly" sedate horses if absolutely necessary. All the people I've spoken to have no problem with this but I am obviously one of the only ones to have issues with a non-vet sedating my horses. I mean, God forbid, what if one of the horses has a reaction? He works on the Parelli's horses and they rave about him, too.

He will be coming to my area this Spring and I am considering having him work on my six horses, which includes two miniatures. However, I will NOT allow a person who is not a veterinarian administer drugs to my horses. This is non-negotiable. The only way I will allow any sedation to occur is by a licensed vet, preferably one of my own. However, I am not sure they will agree to this due to the fact that this guy is not a vet and I don't know how they view him (though I plan to find out from my friends who are vet techs in the office). I am willing to pay them for their time (and my peace of mind) for them to be present for all of the procedures.

What I've read from him makes a lot of sense, however, this is just too scary a procedure for me to trust blindly. Has anyone ever used Spencer LaFlure for their horses--miniature or large ones? If so, what has your experience been? Has your vet attended?

Any input is welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

[barefoot]

Oh, I am jealous.

I have trimmed horses in Georgia that were done by spencer. The instructor I was working with had just finished 300 hours of schooling with Spencer. They balance the mouth and TMJ, use much smaller tools, which would be awesome for mini's. At www.naturalhorsetalk.com they have an interview with him.

http://www.naturalhorsetalk.com/recentshows.html

The TMJ thing has been a wonderful thing to learn and watch for. If you stand straight in front of your horse and massage two little veins that are right behind the back corner of your horses eye. When you push on these (what I would call temple spots) the crator spot above you horses eye (Idont know their tecnical name) will pop or bulge. If the spots don't bulge evenly then the TMJ is most likely wound tight. Balancing the mouth can fix that. Often lameness that you can't figure out is because of the teeth. Can cause whole body problems. A sign that they are not turning well because of teeth can be one hoove bigger than the other. Spencer's dentistry looks at the whole horse biomachanics. If you have the chance to get him do.

I have been trying to get one of his students my way for a year. He is 9 hours from me. With new laws it hasn't worked out. Fortunately I did find a dentist that takes note of alot of these things. He didn't learn them from dentistry school funny enough. He learned them from an old equine vet out west many years ago. When I trim I often look at the horses mouth to see if it has full range of motion. Can use his mouth side to side and front to back.

When working with the Spencer Student in Georgia we trimmed a whole barn of horses that had just had their teeth done by the vet. Every single horse didn't have full range of motion with their mouths.

I hope my wording has been ok

Emma

 

[SilverDollar]

Thank you so much, Emma, for the information. I do understand the importance of the mechanics in the mouth and I'm sure my riding horse would benefit greatly from Spencer. He had a bad fall five years ago where he whiplashed his neck--he did a "face plant" and was laid up for nine months. I know he has TMJ issues by the way he "pops" at the poll.

I suppose I am a bit gun-shy due to my entrance into the barefoot world. It wasn't a good experience (but all my horses are happily barefoot

) and it has made me very cautious with anything "new". (I don't trim my own horses--maybe someday--but I've attended two Pete Ramey clinics and a Dr. Bowker workshop. I've also trimmed cadaver hooves and study all I can.) The sedation is my greatest fear because a licensed vet has all the drugs and tools to reverse any kind of bad reaction where I'm not so sure about a non-vet. And as we all know, minis are a whole other story. Most equine vets don't know enough about them.

I will continue to do my homework. Thanks again.

 

[barefoot]

If it helps, the one Spencer student I talked to said that 99% of the horses they do don't need sedating. They work with the horses head lowered instead of high up and the horses are much more relaxed. I understand being nervous about the sedation. It scares me too. I suppose you could have him do anyone who doesn't need sedating and leave anyone he is unable to do unsedated to the vet. Or see how much it would cost to have a vet present. They would probably love the opportunity to watch him. I know that at that Spencer school they teach massage and more and he probably has a special way with the horses. Sorry I piped up with no personal experience. After spending time with the guy in Georgia my husband was thinking of attending Spencer's school, so we called a few times and talked to different ones. But we have never had the opportunity to have them out to our place.

Emma