Equine Dentist

Rougeau Equine Dental Consulting ( Ponoka, Alberta)

Margaret Rougeau

Home- (403)783-4619

Cell- (403)783-9821

email- equine_dentistry@hotmail.com

Tell Margaret Rougeau you heard of her from www.windingroadhorsetraining.com or Stephen Braun . At different times of the year Margaret comes to my place ( Lloydminster/ Marwayne, Alberta area) to work on horses so we can schedule other horses in at those times as well. She does a state of the art job and does it correct. Make sure your young horses teeth are done by an equine dentist before sending them out for training. Your horse and trainer will thank you a lot.

All horses that are in training with me get done by Margaret. She gets them 100% comfortable in their mouth therefore making my job safer and a lot easier. I will not ride a horse without dental work. My life is too important.

I have started using Margaret as an equine dentist personally as well as for all the horses I train and it has made my life a lot easier. Having proper dental work done (removal of any sharp points, hooks, ramps on the back teeth, retained caps as well as bit seats put in the horses mouth, etc.) alleviates a lot of training problems. Also makes the job of the trainer a lot safer when you know that your horse is 100% comfortable with no sharpness in their mouths.

Dental Examination

An oral examination will identify incisor abnormalities and treatment needed. The inspection will also assess the occlusion of both incisors and molars. Molars are checked to determine if occlusion is uniform end to end, and that there is no interference from bumps, ramped up or tall teeth, or hook formation on either end of the arcades.

Nearly all horses develop sharp enamel points on the outside of the upper cheek teeth and on the inside of the lower cheek teeth. Sharp enamel points can affect both eating and performance by hurting cheeks and tongue. The sharp enamel points should be floated.

Horses should have their teeth floated before going into training as the bridle will push the cheeks into the sharp points making the horse uncomfortable. The bit will push/pull tissue into the sharp enamel points causing pain.

From age two until five, the mouth is in a volatile state of change. the mouth continues to change throughout the life of the horse, but no changes are as great as these early years.

During these times, the horse is struggling with the cutting or loss of twenty-four deciduous/ "milk teeth and the eruption of thirty six permanent teeth.

Horses five and under should be seen every six months and horse over five should be seen at least once a year.

A healthy mouth promotes a healthy body and a willingness to work with the trainer.

If your horse's haven't seen an Equine Dentist in the last 12 months.. they need one. Good dentistry helps horses get more nutrition from less feed and improves their performance.

Contact Margaret for more in depth information. Link to her website on the links page.

Here is a neat video for those of you new to dental work. Very educational and informative. Search them out on you tube. Just copy and paste it. Equine Dentistry Made Easy to Understand Parts 1-10. Every horse owner should watch these videos.