Cornerstone Equine Dental Services LLC

01/18/2025

📌WHAT DO YOU DO IN AN EMERGENCY?

If you have animals, especially larger animals and livestock, it's really important that you have an idea of who to call and what to do in an emergency. Emergencies are just that- They can come out of nowhere and at inconvenient times like holidays and weekends. They happen when you are 3 ft deep in snow. They happen when the emergency vet is not in town.

Before getting large animals, do you have/know:
✔️ A good relationship with your local veterinarians(s)
✔️ Where your closest vet clinic or hospital is
✔️ Access to a reliable truck/trailer suitable for your animals
✔️ Worked with your animals on catching, leading, trailer loading during the day AND night
✔️ Have medications and correct dosages on hand such as banamine, Bute, electrolytes
✔️ Have a first aid kit with dressings, bandages, vet wrap, scissors, a thermometer, head lamp, gorilla tape....etc
✔️Have a working knowledge of the signs of an emergency
✔️ Either yourself own a firearm or know somebody who can humanely euthanize a large animal if they are in extreme pain and suffering and there is no help coming to allow them to recover, in the absence of an available veterinarian or veterinary clinic.

All of these things are important to know and be able to do before investing in the animals themselves. Oftentimes owners get the animals before they learn these skills or have a working relationship with professionals that can help keep their animals alive in an emergency.

It's time to change that and think more responsibly about equine ownership. Your donkey/mule/horse isn't a toy, it's a living, breathing creature who depends on YOU to advocate for them and keep them safe. ❤️

The checklist above was created by Hee-Haw Halfway House Donkey Rescue and Education. We thank them for sharing it and hope people can find it helpful.

01/02/2025

Happy New Year everyone! 🎉🎉So thankful for all my amazing clients, vets and colleagues as well as the continuing education I am blessed to be a part of!

Schedule update🗓:
Still have some availability for January but am scheduling as far out as April! If you have a day you know your off work or your vet is coming for spring shots let me know sooner than later! Busy season for spring riding is almost here😁

Pricing💵:
$90/horse for exam and dental
Group rate of 4 or more horses- $80/horse
Wolf teeth extraction $15
Decayed/minor fracture extractions vary
Sheath cleaning $30/horse

(*Sedation is REQUIRED to be available at time of appointment to avoid wasting both parties time. Doesn't mean that every horse needs sedated, but that a backup plan is in place. Whether that be self administered dorm gel or you schedule me with your vet. Any questions just ask!)

12/04/2024

Why I always tell my clients "if you notice something strange, call me! Because horses do strange things"

(Check comments to see the chunk of wood that was removed) This mini mare had picked up a chunk of wood that became lodged on her pallet between 108 and 208 premolars. Luckily it didn't puncture her palate ( had one earlier this year that did) and I was able to remove it fast to give her some much needed relief. The owner noticed she had become increasingly lethargic and slowed down on eating. With a blood test not showing much, she wanted to rule out teeth and it was a good thing. After we were done with her dental, she went to eating like crazy!

11/28/2024

11/09/2024

Schedule update!! 🦃🎄☃️

November is full and December is filling fast! I will also begin scheduling for January as well.

And as always, sedation is required to be on hand or I'm always willing to work with you and your vets schedule.

10/18/2024

#1 sure way to gross out your equine dental provider, not keeping on top of your worming schedule🪱🤢🤣

Now this gelding is just in from Utah, none the less bot flies are a huge problem here as well. This 4 yo QH had several signs of periodontal disease beginning and a few wiggly surprises that were contributing factors. He had 208 cap fragment that once removed revealed a whole nest of bot fly larva crawling around!

Keep up on your dentals and your worming schedule!!

10/13/2024

"They're fat, they don't need their teeth done" "They ride like a dream, they don't need their teeth done"

This gelding was new to their barn and they couldn't believe what the poor guy had going on in his mouth. This hook was leaving a nice mark on his bottom bars. This big QH gelding was handy broke, the best boy under saddle, and while he came in lean was gaining weight nice. He should feel alot better now.

The importance of a proper dental with a headlight and a speculum!!

08/08/2024

Oh what fun those mini horse mouths are! This 11 yo old mini mare had severe crowding issues which is a very common occurrence for minis. Both 107 and 207 were buccally displaced causing buccal ulcers, periodontal disease, and packing of food. Though they already had some movement, it was no easy task removing them in such a small area. Big thank you to Dr. Rob for sedation!

07/10/2024

Today's fun case:
5 yo old donkey that had fractured his 401 and 402.

07/04/2024

Happy 4th of July to all our amazing clients and friends!! Have fun and be safe today! God Bless🇺🇲🇺🇲❤️❤️

06/26/2024

July is full!!🇺🇲☀️
I will be out of town August 11-18 and only have two weeks open at the end of August available. I have also begun scheduling for September so if you need a certain date, get a hold of me sooner than later 🦷😘

06/05/2024

This Belgian has really been resisting putting the bit in as well as worming and anything like that. I wonder why! This 103 had been broken for a little while and allowing food to also pack causing further irritation

05/29/2024

This Frankentooth removed today!

05/11/2024

Good Morning! 🌞

Schedule update:
May and June are full. Now scheduling for July and August. If you need a Saturday, do not wait as they fill up first!

Reminder:
please be patient! I promise I'm not ignoring you if I don't answer messages right away! Clients contact me via all forms of communication and trying to remember to respond to everybody can be a little hectic, especially during spring busy season for dentals, as well as my own farm work with calving and planting season 🙃😘

(P.s.- I have some of the world's best clients and I appreciate you all more than you know ❤️)

03/31/2024

When I met Joey, the rising 3 year old Suffolk Punch (from my previous post) I removed one of his caps as it was loose. I have taken a photo of his cap next to a cap from Heathcliffe, the miniature horse, who remains the smallest head I treat. He stands at 25” tall now he is fully grown.

The photo of Heathcliffe is from when he was also 3 year old and I took the same loose cap out of his mouth. You can tell this was a while ago by how young I look!! But I have kept his cap in the tooth drawer in my car ever since, just waiting to get my hands on the same tooth of a heavy horse for this comparison. To save stinking my car out I bleached the tooth, which is why it is white compared to the fresh one of Joey’s.

So Heathcliffe is at least 10 times smaller than Joey. But look at those teeth!! Heathcliffe’s is barely half the size of Joey’s. Probably over half. Despite the massive difference in height, weight and head size, the miniature horse’s teeth are not as small you would expect!

So why is this interesting? Because humans are messing with breeding too quickly for equines to adapt. It takes thousands and thousands of years for teeth to change size this dramatically and humans are expecting them to change in a couple of hundred years.

When we look at dog breeds we see the terrible consequences of breeding for human aesthetics without considering function. Not just in dentistry but in every part of their body’s. I’m begging breeders, please, please don’t do the same thing to horses!!! I’m not just talking size either, stop breeding for teeny tiny heads but also stop breeding for the extreme dished heads, the shortened noses and the sea horse heads. All of these things have massive consequences on the horses teeth. Unlike dogs, horses need their teeth, they struggle to survive without them. This type of breeding just causes pain and suffering and expense to the eventual owner. It always comes back to giving the breeder a bad name too.
In breeding, Function must always ALWAYS come first.

Routine dentistry is basic care, not a luxury and if you take on an extreme size or shape head pony, be prepared for that routine work to be very frequent!