Preparing For Our First Rides

When first starting a young colt under saddle, we do a lot of preparation for this big event whether we realize it or not.  Ground work, sacking them out, getting them to "join up", creating a good partnership based on willing submission, etc is what most comes to mind when people think of "preparing" a horse to be rode. 

However, there is something that many over look - floating teeth.  Many think that the only time you need to worry about the teeth is when a horse's condition is going downhill or if you are having trouble with the bit. What is that saying? "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Why wait until you have problems?

I am a big believer of getting our your horse's teeth done before we think about starting them. Not only do we need to make sure that there are no wolf teeth there that will interfere with how well a colt takes a bit, but even as two year olds they can have sharp points that cut into a colt's cheeks causing discomfort. Not only will floating their teeth early help with riding but by keeping their teeth balanced year to year, we are setting our horses up to have a mouth full of teeth as even older horses keeping them that much happier and healthier.

Last year I was guilty of over looking the teeth of our young horses and boy did it ever show to me when I was riding.  As horsemen we know that there are bound to be a few bumps in the road caused by miscommunication, unwilling submission or self preservation due to pain.  I would rather take the guesswork out of it as much as I can by making sure their teeth are not the problem so that I can move onto finding the right solution and to curb the potential problem before it ever starts.

Although I am not able to ride yet, yesterday I started "preparing" by having our two and three year olds teeth done as well as the other horse I will be riding this spring, Elvis.  It may be a month or more before I will be able to swing a leg over a saddle but I will know that when that time comes that I will be that much more prepared and the horses will be ready to get to work.

I've always been a stickler for having a horse's teeth done every year and after overlooking/forgetting about it last year, I was not going to make the same mistake twice!  Have you done all you can to "prepare" your horse?