# Parrot Mouth - tell me your experiences please



## abracadabra (18 July 2009)

my OH is looking for a new horse for himself and rang about one he likes, the vendor has told him it is parrot mouthed

i do not know to what degree it is parrot mouthed and left to myself i wouldnt bother going to see it.  ive told OH of the problems we could encounter with such a horse, but anyway OH wants me to see it  and as  i would have the final say over any horse purchase, i may as well go

so, forgetting that i myself wouldnt bother to see it,  and im wondering if im altogether too harsh/perfectionist...

please, any of you with experience, good or bad, of parrot mouthed horses, tell me your stories.


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## lauraandjack (18 July 2009)

I know of one seriously parrot mouthed horse - her incisors do not touch!

She seems to cope pretty well.  Obviously she cannot graze very short grass but other than that does not seem to have any problems eating.

She does need fairly regular attention from the dentist, but other than that I think leads a completely normal life.

Obviously you should not breed from a horse with this type of conformational defect!

No harm in going to have a look surely?


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## clairefeekerry1 (18 July 2009)

no personal exp, but this memory has always stuck in my mind....... when we took one of our horses to the vet clinic they had a lovely lovely foal in due to a severe parrot mouth, when i asked of her future the vet said it was uncertain due to the severity but she would never be able to eat short grass, would need very reg visits from EDT, ongoing vets visits and possibly specilist feeding. she was bred for racing, which the vet said she would not fulfill due to the defect. if i could have taken her then i would!! not much help but thats my exp of it!


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## abracadabra (18 July 2009)

[ QUOTE ]


Obviously you should not breed from a horse with this type of conformational defect!



[/ QUOTE ]

apparently this is based on a polish scientific study done in  1946 (before the days of dna study) and a later american (?) study done in the 1970's refutes this stqating that a range of factors combine to produce probnlem, as the study discovered that breeding parrot mouthed anim,als produced no more than the 2 - 5% normally expected from a general population (lots more blah blah)


thanks, no harm in looking, just a waste of a day for me

im assuming that teeth would need to be done at leaxst 2x pere year?


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## abracadabra (18 July 2009)

poor foalie


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## Flame_ (18 July 2009)

I have a slightly parrot-mouthed 13.2. She's also a fat, greedy laminitic and the parrot mouth doesn't seem to affect her munching!


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## Lollii (18 July 2009)

I went to see a horse with a parrot mouth once, he was lovely, an ex point 2 pointer, I really fell for him, but i didn't buy him because I didn't like the look of his mouth and worried about him eating, I still think about him years later - I should have brought him!


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## muddy boots (18 July 2009)

The one I know of is fine, has regular dentist checks, no problems with work, weight or eating.


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## elizabethshaw (19 July 2009)

Hi, it depends how bad it is - I know of several slightly parrot mouthed horses who are absolutely fine and one mare that must have over half an inch difference and she is fine also. she is 12, keeps weight on etc.
My advice would be to go and look, and judge him on everything else. If you like what you see in every other respect then attend to his mouth - get an EDT to check him for you or the vet when vetting to see their opinion. It would be a shame to miss a good horse for something that may be unimportant....


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## brighteyes (19 July 2009)

Best person to ask is a qualified EDT who will be able to explain the consequences (on the eating pattern and tooth wear) and subsequent extra, if any, care needed when considering the routine medical attention your horse gets.


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## jesterfaerie (19 July 2009)

My TB is very very slightly parrot mouthed (as is my friends TB) neither of us have a single problem with this. As they are only slightly parrot mouthed, their teeth still meet so can still graze normally etc.


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## legaldancer (19 July 2009)

I bred a foal who was severly parrot mouthed. I was advised to have him put down, but having known an older horse with the condition who seemed to do well we persevered. He had initial difficulty suckling, but overcame this. Foal was out of our homebred pony mare by a HIS TB stallion.

During his first winter he had terrible diarrhoea (sp) &amp; was put on probiotics for the rest of his life as he always suffered from loose droppings. Vet said Malabsorbtion, so not sure it was related to his mouth, but I suspect it was. Yea-Sacc also helped.

He was a poor doer until the age of around 12 when his incisors met  much better due to the angle of his teeth altering as he became older.
He then became almost the opposite &amp; quite fat!

He needed the molars floating, particularly the first ones on the top &amp; the rear ones on his bottom jaw as they were mis-aligned. The EDT also said he had a wave type shape along his molars.

We took him on for life, though it was never the intention to sell him anyway. We lost him to colic a year ago, which he had never suffered from before.

Incidentaly, Dancing Brave who was a famous &amp; prolific winning racehorse had a Parrot mouth &amp; also stood at stud. We saw a few of his progeny race &amp; some did have the same condition, but most did not (that we saw). There was even a HIS Stallion standing a few years ago who was by him, which I was amazed by as I felt it could very well have been passed on.

Our boy led a very ordinary life, doing pony club stuff etc, &amp; was much loved. I wouldn't rule it out, especially if its been seen regularly by the dentist.


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## VictoriaEDT (19 July 2009)

It depends how bad the parrot mouth is. Usually this can be maintained perfectly well as long has the horse has dentistry every 6 months but a qualified EDT. Basically, because the lower jaw is set further back, the horse will get an overgrowth on the front of her first upper premolars and the very back of her last lower molars and is this is not dealt with she will get jaw joint pain, be unable to slide her lower jaw forwards when eating from the ground as she will be locked up. Also, every 5 years or so she will need incisor reductions to compensate for them not wearing naturally.

It is not the end of the world and having a parrot mouth would certainly not put me off!


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## badgerdog (19 July 2009)

We have a horse at our riding school who is quite severely parrot mouthed and he leads a normal life and is in fantastic condition.
I wouldn't overlook a horse with a parrot mouth but you'd have to be aware that it might not be able to graze short grass etc.


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## abracadabra (19 July 2009)

thankyou all for your input, very helpful stuff

well i might as well go and have a look then.

 i like the look of him from photos, hes basically a nicely put together chap...id just switched off from him after getting that info from the vendor

didnt know that about dancing brave


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## Archangel (19 July 2009)

I have a parrot mouthed horse, never caused him any trouble at all condition or riding wise, he is not extreme though a sort of mid parrot I would say.  He is ancient now and still no problems, he has devoted his life to eating though


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