# Wolf Teeth



## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Do you routinely extract when they appear or take a more passive approach?


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

wr said:


> Do you routinely extract when they appear or take a more passive approach?


I've never had to have wolf teeth removed. I had a colt and a filly years ago that had wolf teeth erupt right before I sold them tho. I think I'd wait to see if they are going to cause a problem before removing them.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

I've always taken a fairly passive approach to these things and I'm having a hard time comprehending the vet my ex uses. 

I wouldn't normally care either way but the test pilot just got the bill from them for cutting the little guy and they seem to have worked hard to drive the bill up to $500.00 and part of that includes extraction of 1 wolf tooth.


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

wr said:


> I've always taken a fairly passive approach to these things and I'm having a hard time comprehending the vet my ex uses.
> 
> I wouldn't normally care either way but the test pilot just got the bill from them for cutting the little guy and they seem to have worked hard to drive the bill up to $500.00 and part of that includes extraction of 1 wolf tooth.


Who authorized the removal? This was from when they gelded him without permission?

From what I've read/heard many people automatically have them removed.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Irish Pixie said:


> Who authorized the removal? This was from when they gelded him without permission?
> 
> From what I've read/heard many people automatically have them removed.


Yes and each time these issues have come up, they're quick to tell the test pilot that my experience is old school thinking. As soon as he clears up the vet bill and there is apparently the bill for halter training, he'll be moving them. 

There's a bit of extortion going on or I need to charge the kid more for the one I halter broke because the Sunshine Boys seem to feel that $800 is a reasonable rate for the job.


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

wr said:


> Yes and each time these issues have come up, they're quick to tell the test pilot that my experience is old school thinking. As soon as he clears up the vet bill and there is apparently the bill for halter training, he'll be moving them.
> 
> There's a bit of extortion going on or I need to charge the kid more for the one I halter broke because the Sunshine Boys seem to feel that $800 is a reasonable rate for the job.


Does a gold plated halter come with that? It is simply ridiculous.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Irish Pixie said:


> Does a gold plated halter come with that? It is simply ridiculous.


It seems not. I usually charged about $100 to halter break yearlings because it's pretty quick and easy. 

Both are not working so it looks like they're planning to get rich off the kid but I think both have a specific buyer in mind for the yearling and they're trying to force him to sell. Test pilot has been reluctant to make a big stink because one of these two is his step father but he's lost his sense of humor and he's considering waiting until the horses are relocated and will decide how he wants to proceed at that point. 

This year's foal, sired by the Sunshine Boy's fancy specimen is substantially inferior. He's certainly got some hip but I swear I've never seen a back that long on a QH and it's never been an overly desirable trait. He even suggested they keep him in return for the outstanding invoices and nobody jumped at that offer.


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## malinda (May 12, 2002)

I have wolf teeth removed at gelding time (around a year of age). The horse is already under sedation, so why not? The fillies are checked at a year and again before they're put under saddle at about 3 years. I did have a horse who had problems with his wolf teeth, so now I just have them pulled when the horse is young. It doesn't cost much and then it's done and over with.


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## goodhors (Sep 6, 2011)

Wolf teeth removal takes away one more excuse for horse to act poorly when bitted for using it. 

It is usually quite easy to pop the teeth, if they have any, at about a year old. We have not needed sedatives, horse stands and tooth comes out with minimal problems. Usually only a couple drops of blood and not any ill effects after. In all the horses we have owned, only one mare has been free of wolf teeth in those many years. All the fillies we have had, needed wolf teeth removed. So this is not a male horse only, kind of problem.

We purchased some older horses from out west, had never had any dental work done. The boys had HUGE wolf teeth, which we had removed with sedation. They were as big as your small finger!! They took a bit longer to recover, but otherwise no problems. Vet was careful to get all the tooth, no fragments left in the gums.

The thing with wolf teeth is they are not well anchored in the jaw, so any contact with bit, rein signals, can send tooth back to bump molars, cause pain in the jawbone. With the wolf teeth removed, that kind of issue won't happen, horse has no excuse to throw his head, over react to requests coming thru the bit. A bit is going to bump the tooth now and again, even using horses with loose reins. I SURE do not want that head flying up or horse jumping from painful teeth. Kind of like hitting your own teeth with a spoon, makes your head ring!

Our horses need to work both on and off the bit, with contact and without, so we don't want to punish them by "ringing their chimes" with bumping any wolf teeth, during the time we use them.

So all horses are checked carefully, any wolf teeth are automatically removed here to prevent future problems or issues.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Given the fact that one wolf tooth was removed, can we expect to be doing this again?

This is all somewhat uncharted territory for me. I normally wait longer than this to geld and if these things need to be done, we do them at that time. 

I think I'm a bit dumbstruck by this vet's 'modern' approach. I prefer to wait until both testicles are descended before gelding so the procedure is minor. This one believes the earlier the better and if both testicles aren't descended, you just dig a bit deeper and add $250 to the bill. She's already advised that he'll probably need to be put under at a later date to remove the other wolf tooth she expects will come in although I do know that they occasionally only get one. 

She did good though, she ran this bill up to close to $600 on an anticipated $250 bill.


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

Even when I know absolutely nothing on a subject, I think it's cool the things you learn about on this site.:goodjob:

When I read the title before clicking on it, my first thought was,........"Ummmmmm......no. Unless I have to shoot one, I'd just leave that wolf's teeth right where they are........"


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

wr said:


> Given the fact that one wolf tooth was removed, can we expect to be doing this again?
> 
> This is all somewhat uncharted territory for me. I normally wait longer than this to geld and if these things need to be done, we do them at that time.
> 
> ...


All the points you brought up is why I would wait to see what happens with wolf teeth. Why put him under anesthesia again for the second tooth when a couple of months would have solved the problem?

Digging around for another testicle is serious surgery compare to when they've both dropped. 

The Vet makes significantly more money by doing it the "modern" way...


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

farmrbrown said:


> Even when I know absolutely nothing on a subject, I think it's cool the things you learn about on this site.:goodjob:
> 
> When I read the title before clicking on it, my first thought was,........"Ummmmmm......no. Unless I have to shoot one, I'd just leave that wolf's teeth right where they are........"


Did you Google to see what they look like?


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## farmrbrown (Jun 25, 2012)

Irish Pixie said:


> Did you Google to see what they look like?


UMMMMMMMMMMM.......no.:ashamed:

I was too excited to see what was going on here, I've seen gator wrassling and rattlesnake milking but a question on pulling teeth from a wolf.......I didn't hesitate for a minute........LOL


I figured it out after a few posts.
But there's the fun of "accidental" learning.:bouncy:


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

I usually don't worry too much about them and they don't always pop through anyway. When I had one of geldings teeth floated because he was dropping feed I told the vet to take them out while he was in there. At 5 years old he didn't have any to remove.


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

farmrbrown said:


> UMMMMMMMMMMM.......no.:ashamed:
> 
> I was too excited to see what was going on here, I've seen gator wrassling and rattlesnake milking but a question on pulling teeth from a wolf.......I didn't hesitate for a minute........LOL
> 
> ...


You'd think they were big ugly fangs by the name, huh? In reality, they are just boring little tooth nubbins...


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## malinda (May 12, 2002)

Irish Pixie said:


> Did you Google to see what they look like?


That's a neat picture!


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## aoconnor1 (Jun 19, 2014)

I have them pulled at gelding at 1 year of age on all my colts. I always have my fillies checked before I start to break them to make sure they don't have any that need pulling. If they do, they get pulled too. I agree with goodhors, one less excuse for the horse to behave badly


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## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

I would get a new vet, not pay the bill, and threaten to sue for damages for gelding without permission.


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## Alder (Aug 18, 2014)

Yeah, I don't know who 'the test pilot " is, but not only is he/she getting screwed, that vet is an idiot. Any vet (or owner) I ever knew wanted to wait til they dropped.

As for wolf teeth, I've never had them be a problem, so never removed them from any of my colts, and never had a head thrower. Believe me, a head thrower usually has other reasons - like the nut behind the wheel.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Alder said:


> Yeah, I don't know who 'the test pilot " is, but not only is he/she getting screwed, that vet is an idiot. Any vet (or owner) I ever knew wanted to wait til they dropped.
> 
> As for wolf teeth, I've never had them be a problem, so never removed them from any of my colts, and never had a head thrower. Believe me, a head thrower usually has other reasons - like the nut behind the wheel.


We are fully aware that this is a royal ripoff. He's living up north now and had intended to to move the mare, this youngster and the foal at side as soon as he had a chance. They would have been moved to my place and none of this would have been an issue but I destroyed my ankle last fall and couldn't handle any of my own chores last winter. I would have gladly halter broke this guy but when we discussed it, I was still unsure if I'd need surgery to fully reconstruct my ankle and he wasn't keen on the idea of risking further injury. I did take on another halter breaking project for his girlfriend later in the spring but we assessed that as a bit more urgent because he was being sold. 

Unfortunately, his conformation and his color has caught somebody's interest because his step father and his hired man have developed a keen interest so I'm of the opinion that he was cut, way younger than I would have and against my son's wishes because it's likely what somebody wants. I'm also guessing that the insane vet bill and the over the top fees for halter breaking is two lazy men's idea of putting him in a position where they feel he'll walk away rather than pay the bill and they can claim ownership and make some serious money off the little guy. 

If test pilot wanted to sell, he has two very firm offers on the table and in both cases, it would be very suitable homes for the horse. One is an elite barrel racer that wants him for a future prospect and the other is a young trick rider but both are outstanding trainers and his future would be bright. 

Because this involves my ex, I won't directly involve in this but if they'd like to come down and move the yearling, mare and foal at side to my place, I'll gladly take them on or at least keep them until they're set up to move them north but I won't go onto someone else's land and just take them. 

It is nice to get a fresh perspective on certain things like wolf teeth and gelding because I've done things the way I have for so many years that it's good to ask questions and see if there is merit in looking at things from a different angle.


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## bluemoonluck (Oct 28, 2008)

IMO test pilot needs to get his horses moved somewhere else STAT. If the idiots who own the place he's at now are willing to geld him without consent, who knows what else they'd do? Next thing you know, the horse will have escaped, or died, or some other bunk so they can sell him on the sly.....


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

bluemoonluck said:


> IMO test pilot needs to get his horses moved somewhere else STAT. If the idiots who own the place he's at now are willing to geld him without consent, who knows what else they'd do? Next thing you know, the horse will have escaped, or died, or some other bunk so they can sell him on the sly.....


That's the plan. They can move him here but this has become hostile enough that if I were to go pick them up, I'd likely be charged with theft or trespassing.


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

If you have to go digging around, there's more tissue damaged, more capillaries disturbed, more bleeding. Gelding before they've had a chance to descend or removing the wolf teeth before they've had a chance to erupt is just silly. Setting the horse up for longer recovery time, need more sedative. And for what? 

Most horses have wolf teeth. It's the canines that the females often don't have. I do have one mare with little canines. They're cute.


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