I originally posted the following on the gaited board last night, but things have escalated since then:

So, since little Miracle has come I noticed a few things. She wouldn't graze much, was hesitant to take treats, and pawed almost violently when I would bring her in to eat.

This evening I took a look at her little teeth and was horrified at what I saw. One bottom front tooth was completely broken off at the gum line and the opposite top front tooth is horribly fractured all the way across. The owner told me that she was getting beaten up pretty bad at the barn he had her at... She has obviously been kicked in the mouth.

I put her back in a stall last night and gave her hay. Its the very front teeth, she has no problem grinding her food, she is just unable to crop the grass.  So I figured I'd put her out for a little while this morning to stretch her legs and then put her back up with hay. As I was leading her up to the pasture she nosed into the ground to grab a mouthful of grass when I heard the other tooth crack, its gone now, too.

Turned her around and put her back in stall with hay. I have a call into the vet because unlike the bottom tooth, the top one bleed and her gum is a little swollen and a touch sensitive. I spoke with the owner last night (he's a truck driver) I'm worried now about infection and/or abcess not including all the other issues that will come along with a horse missing two front teeth (the are opposite of each other, left bottom front, right top front).

I had expressed concern to the owner regarding her size when we picked her up last friday, she's a purebred TW and her parents were both around 16hh, she'll be three in February and is barely 14hh and weighs approximately 720lbs. He's had her about six months. It appears her growth is stunted, maybe to previous bad nutrition which could lead to not so strong teeth. She got her shots in August and the vet mentioned that she was underweight and to increase her feed but the owner said the BM where he was would not do it which is why he moved her to my place since she continued to lose weight since then. I suspect she was kicked in the mouth a couple of months ago.

Until I hear from the vet my thought is to irrigate it frequently (with water and peroxide?), keep her stall confined so she doesn't try to crop grass with all the hay she can eat. I'm thinking soaked beet pulp or alfalfa cubes?

Thoughts, advice, suggestions please!

Hi, I posted on the other post  about my gelding who lost all his front teeth to a kick that no one caught until after I leased him (of course).  Maybe four months like that!  Poor guy!

 I would think a saline irrigation would be best and soak whatever she is eating, including hay.  Even grain mixes can be soaked enough, although they take longer.  Beet pulp is good, but make it very, very wet to avoid gas colic. Any of the complete feed pellets make a good mash, as well as hay/alfalfa cubes.  Call the vet and see if putting her on antibiotics might be a good idea to catch/prevent infection or abcess.

Bless you for catching this!  The mouth is often one of the last places checked..  it was a fellow boarder who noticed my guy's problem.

At least from a human perspective peroxide is now a "no no" as far as cleaning/irrigating wounds. It kills/destroys flesh indescrimately (so it doesn't just get out the gunk and dead stuff; it takes the good stuff too!!!). I am not specifically trained in equine first aid (I AM trained in human first aid, to the wilderness level, which is where I was told never to use peroxide) but I wouldn't irrigate with peroxide on a horse either. If you want to flush it out until the vet gets back in touch with you I would just use water or maybe a sterile saline solution if you have it...room temp to slightly luke warm. This might be a good idea after meals or periodically if you are giving her free choice especially if you find she's getting food stuck in her gum/the gap. If you have a dosing syringe (I think they are 120ml syringes, like you'd use to give crushed up bute orally, etc) use that; they normally give just the right amount of pressure to get gunk out without overdoing the water force on tender skin. Don't overdo it though, once or twice a day should do it until the vet calls, and I'd leave it alone if food doesn't seem to be sticking in there. Horses mouths are actually relatively clean places (especially when compared to our mouths, YUCK!).

Hee hee, <- sheepish giggle, I spoke with the vet yesterday, all concerned and very worried about my new boarder's mare, told her everything I knew and everything I'd seen, where she had been, what my thoughts were, how old she was, etc... My vet chuckles lightly and says, "Alicia, she's ok, she's just losing her baby teeth". I was so relieved I cried! She explained at 2 1/2 to 3 years old they lose their baby teeth in front. That nasty facture I saw was the baby tooth that was still hanging on below the new tooth coming in. She said that to irrigate it with Listerine (duh!) and keep an eye on it over the next couple of days.

She was great this morning, I took her out to the pasture and like yesterday jammed her muzzle in the ground and went at it with gusto...

I spoke with the owner this morning and let him know, we both had a good chuckle over it and then he thanked me for being on the cautious side and felt great that she was in caring hands.

Well,I totally missed that she was only 2 1/2!   That's the kind of mistake we like to make!  So glad she's just teething!

After responding to you on the other post, I got to thinking, was it her baby teeth that were damaged or the adult teeth?  If it were her baby teeth, then it would have been a matter of keeping an eye on things until the adult teeth came in.  Good to know that it was a simple missidentification of the shedding of baby teeth.

Spotted Pony