Posted on 04/07/2009 10:51:18 PM PDT by Chet 99
Comanche County_Horses need "teeth floating" every six months to a year since their teeth grow continually. They need their teeth filed - or floated - so their ever-growing teeth won't cause them discomfort or pain. Until last year, almost anyone could do it, but a law passed in November of 2008 made the practice a felony for anyone who is not a licensed veterinarian. A lot of horse owners are unhappy about the relatively new law, and one person already has been arrested. Horse owners rallied at the Oklahoma capitol to protest the law.
Jane Ann Whisenhunt says the law is inconvenient. Since horse teeth constantly are growing, floating must be done regularly. Sometimes the horse must be sedated - that's where horse owners say the problem lies. Whisenhunt cares for more than 50 horses on her ranch in eastern Comanche County. It's a lot of work feeding, grooming, and floating horses teeth. "I miss not being able to have Chris down here, my dentist down here, who comes in here does all of my horses and walks out," she said. "Now I am going to have to haul them to the vet's."
Hauling the horses to the vet is a hassle, but must be done if the horse is to be kept healthy. "[If their teeth aren't floated] they are not being able to chew their food and utilize their food," said Whisenhunt.
The State Board of Veterinarian Examiners says sedation of the animals is the main concern, and the reason for the law. It says that those who are not licensed vets should not possess the drugs need to sedate the horse. "I can see both sides - I really can," said Whisenhunt. "The safety of the horses is the most important thing." However, she says a lot of vets don't like to float horses teeth. "They will tell you flat out they don't like to float teeth," she said. "It's hard on them - stressful. Most dentists I know would prefer the equine dentist to do it."
For now, vets must do it. "Some horses may have to wait a little longer just because financially I can't," Whisenhunt said. Some owner say not every vet will float horses teeth, and it's hard to find ones that do. The Board of Veterinarian Examiners says there are about 250 licensed vets in the state who will perform the procedure, but in Comanche County there only are three vets who will perform the service. One vet in the area says he favors the law, and that it was passed strictly for the safety of the horses.
...so what happened in thousands of years prior to us floating their teeth?
I think in that case, it was tough cookies for the horse. It lived with the pain.
Much like humans prior to aspirin, chiropractors, massage therapists, or what have you.
A FELONY for floating teeth without a DVM behind your name?
WTF?
A *felony*?
Golly, then what do you get for trimming the hooves? A death sentence?
Horses evolved to eat grasses that have high amounts of silica, so eating natural foods wore the teeth down. Now, with lush pasture and soft forage, they need a little extra help.
We have never floated the teeth of our horses, they chew on stuff, and our horses have always lived long, healthy lives. They have lots of grazing area with grass, brush and weeds and we supplement with a little grain and hay.
Just guessing here, but horses thousands of years ago didn't eat much hay. They grazed prairies, and got lots of dirt and grit with their food, which would have kept their teeth ground down.
This must be a companion thread to the thread yesterday about the problems developing because ignorant liberals have outlawed horse slaughter which produces meat for human consumption. Instead of policing the slaughterhouse and ensuring that the slaughter is done humanely they have so fouled up the marketplace that the poor beasts are suffering terribly. Liberals have driven the price of feed through the roof because of the subsidies of biofuels and so the market is flooded with horses that people cannot afford to feed. Nor can they sell them. Many cannot afford to have a veterinarian euthanize them and dispose of the carcass. So the liberals have squeezed this traditional American relationship between man and horse from both sides and caused untold agony to the poor creatures. Many horses are trucked in indescribable conditions without water to Mexico for a thousand miles to slaughter.
There is no reason to require teeth be floated by a veterinarian. The procedure is too simple. This will only add more expense to the maintenance of pleasure horses and force more horses onto the trucks toward Mexico.
wait until we need a license to post opinions online
Everything is so regulated here in Germany, I tell my neighbors that one must get a license to commit suicide here.
Which tells you that it takes more than just “good intentions” to make good policy.
Bullsqueeze! This law was passed (probably at the urging of the Vets lobby) to provide vets with more work.
They were eating land forage and ingesting enough sand/grit to keep them worn down. They had shorter lifespans to, and bad teeth probably figured in that...
People with too much time on their hands must stop thinking up of ways to make people's lives more difficult.
Hence the old expression “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”
Yeah, right. It was safety, not money.
People don't 'need' horses.
So they put a reg. on it...just like $100 LTC's...pay for your right.
I owned horses. The farrier floated. The horses seemed bored....and just wanted to get back to eating.
I've never seen a horse in pain' from a float. I, on the other hand, would flinch ...just watching it. YEEEESH!
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