Eruption Bumps
Horses between the age of two and a half and four and a half are in the process of growing in their adult teeth. They have 24 baby teeth to replace in all.
We can tell about this process by looking at, or feeling, the bottom of the jaw. As the adult teeth come in the pressure formed by the adult teeth pushing against the baby teeth causes ‘eruption bumps’ to form along the jaw. The same thing is happening on the upper jaw. Mostly hidden in the nasal cavity those bumps aren’t as noticeable.
These eruption bumps can be useful in checking the health of our horses and the process of the new teeth. Hard to the touch, these bumps shouldn’t bother the horse at all.
Knowing the bumps are there and that teething is going on can help us pin point causes of head shaking or discomfort in a bit. Even without any complications the process of growing in new teeth can make a horses mouth uncomfortable.
If the bumps become inflamed or painful to the touch we know to look for problems. Sometimes caps, baby teeth, will be retained and extremely difficult for the adult teeth to push out. A vet may decide the caps need help coming out to relieve the pressure. Although retained caps and other issues along those lines can lead to pain and the resulting behavioral issues, caps should never be pulled without a veterinarians guidance. The erupting molar can be damaged by over enthusiastic extraction.
Jaw bumps are perfectly natural, most of the time. They give us a good way to tell what is going on inside the horses mouth. They also help us to know when to step in and get help for our horses if things aren’t going well.
Lines of Blaschko
Have you ever heard of them? I hadn’t, but we’ve all seen them. Whether we knew what they were or not.
These lines will appear as marks in the coloring, other times as lines in the hair growth, stripes across the rib cage or neck. In most animals they are not visible, but occasionally they will show up when color, or hair growth, organizes along the lines. They will often be seen on horses with extreme rabcino markings or varnishing in Appaloosas. “Brindle” horses are often just horses with a concentration of roan, sooty, or grey along the the lines
These lines, which occur on humans as well as horses, represent the developmental growth pattern of the skin. Blaschko lines are thought to represent pathways of epidermal cell migration during the development of the fetus.
The lines themselves are invisible, but in humans many inherited and acquired diseases of skin and disorders of hyperpigmentation show along these patterns giving a visual appearance to these lines. In horses, with more colorful coat colors available, they can change the way the coat color presents. Unfortunately the color itself will not pass on genetically.
In horses the lines of blaschko can come and go throughout the horse’s life time, when they appear as lines in the hair. One theory is that lymphatic drainage can cause the lines to appear. Although the lines do not correspond to any known nervous, vascular or lymphatic structures or fascia.
They will show up after a message or an event in the horses life that was apparently stressful or in some way extreme for the horse. That would seem to be a sign that they can be related to something going on within the horse.
Foal Hair Waves
By looking at whorls we can have a clue about temperament from the time of birth.
There are limitations. One of those is the distortion of the whorl caused by the foal hair coat.
Foal coats do all sorts of interesting things. From colors no where near what the adult color will actually be, to primitive markings. Foal coats will also have curls that wont be present as the horse ages.
Very often the forehead will be wildly curly with concentric circles extending from center. These make the whorls look far more complicated than what they are.
As beautiful and convoluted as the circles are they are still only a byproduct of the baby hair coat and will disappear when the coat sheds and a more adult hair coat grows in.
When looking at foals, don’t let all the pretty extras confuse you. Look closely for the actual whorl. Or wait a year or two for a more easily exact analysis.
The Baby Bump
The Shredded Collar
Horse Pain Face
Thick vs Thin
Some people like ’em thic. Others prefer long and lean..
Maybe our preference for body type is subconsciously based more in a preference for temperament type than build. More than we realize at least.
Studies in cattle have long since shown that the size of bone directly correlates to temperament. The smaller the bone the higher strung the cattle. Thicker bone shows quieter cattle.
That same thing can be see when we look at horses. An easy comparison is draft horse to Arabian. Big slow easy going draft horses, small energetic, high strung Arabs.
But! We all say, we’ve known quiet trustworthy Arabs and crazy high strung draft horses!
Whorls, dished faces, and all sorts of other clues come into play and can influence the effects of thick or thin bone. The best place to judge horses by their thickness is between two that are otherwise equal. If two horses have a high whorl but we want to tell the difference between them. That is where looking at thickness is best used.
The measurement of the leg bone is one easy place to judge. We can also look at the head. A long narrow head is the equivalent of thin leg bones. It will show a sensitive refined horse with delicate sensibilities. Narrow ears show far more sensitivity than wide ears. Even narrow set ears show more energy than wide set ears.
The clarity that thick vs thin can provide us reaches as far as the horse’s hair.
A full thick mane, with lush forelock growth that covers the eyes and most of the head shows a quieter, steadier horse than thin hair. Thin, fine hair growth accompanies a more energetic, sensitive temperament.
All of this is relative and in comparison to a horse who has the same basic features and whorl. With that kept in mind, thick vs thin can be an eyeopening comparison to make!
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