has anyone heard of a horse having neck/shoulder/back issues after their teeth were floated?  My vet uses the speculum to crank open the jaw and the assitant raises the horses head on her shoulder for the vet to work on.  Our vet uses sedation.  My mare seemed fine during the procedure but afterwards broke out in a full body sweat.  Can a horses neck/shoulder/back get injured from this procedure?   Raising the head that height during sedation (where the horse lacks full physical control) does make injury sound possible.  Any thoughts?

Is your horse showing some pain?  I could certainly see a horse being stiff and sore in the neck, shoulders and back after a float.  Having the head up like that for a long period could certainly induce some pain.  Even though they're sedated, the horse can be resistant to that position.

When I float my horses, I give them lots of breaks so they can lower their heads and stretch their necks.  Besides, I need a break, too!  I've never had my horses be stiff and/or sore, but I could see it happening.  

I don't know about the sweating reaction.  When I've had horses sedated for other procedures, they have sweated a bit, but not a full body sweat.  Maybe a reaction to some pain, rather than the sedative?  

If your horse is in pain or stiif and sore, I would certainly call the vet back and tell them what is happening.  

I know that sedatives will definitely cause a horse to sweat sometimes quite dramatically especially depending on the outside temps. Other horses have different reactions depends on the drug used. Additionally I know that it is advisable to keep the horse's head up in the air during sedation, as appose to letting them drag their droppy lips on the ground. Maybe if the person holding the head up, held it abnormally outside of the horse's range of motion that probably would cause some lasting discomfort. But rested on a persons shoulder isn't that high unless your horse is really short, or the holder was exceptionally tall. I guess I would say "Does it hurt you if someone holds your arm up for you for extended periods?" If your mare was calm and didn't resist or fight I would think it would be rare in that situation for them to be sore.

My dentist used a contraption like a steel saddle stand with a pad that was lower than their withers to rest their heads on, then he knelt on a pad below them so their heads were never raised.  I think he built the thing himself.  You might look into a reputable chiropracter too, to get an opinion on whether the spine alignment could be compromised.  BTW, could the sweating have been a result of the sedation?

Unluckily I have seen a number of older horses who never recover from being sedated for teeth floating.

I know of 5 that died within 30 days of being sedated. One of them my mare.

Wow, SMW, that was completely sobering and depressing! 

Doesn't sound like luck had much to do with it -- sorry about your mare.