Straight from the horse's mouth

Herman Upshaw floats the teeth on Mark Redhorse's horse, Hesa Cool Mint, at the the Window Rock Veterinary Clinic Friday evening. The Navajo Nation Veterinary and Livestock program is sponsoring a clinic called "Horse Health from the Mouth" at the Window Rock Clinic on April 27 and 28. There will be free seminars explaining how a horse's oral health can effect its overall health, free equine dental exams and discounted floatings. Independent photographer, John A. Bowersmith,

Navajo Vet Program to host
free equine health seminar
By Natasha Kaye Johnson - Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — If your horse is losing weight, the problem could be with its teeth.

This is what the Navajo Nation Veterinary and Livestock Program will be explaining and educating people about at a free horse health seminar on April 27 and 28.

"People deworm them (their horses) and don't realize that they're not grinding they're food properly," said Herman Upshaw, Extension Agent for the program, whose duties are the same as a veterinary technician.

Upshaw said people have been bringing in their horses because of significant weight loss, not realizing that their teeth are the root of the problem. Because the horses teeth are not balanced properly to grind food, they are not properly digesting food either. A high number of people come into the veterinary clinic not knowing this, so the program decided to host the seminar.

Attending the seminar to assist the program will be students from the Academy of Equine Dentistry in Glenns Ferry, Idaho. The school will be bringing dentists, master dentists, and students from all over world, such as Wales, England, Russia, and Switzerland. Upshaw said the dean of the school will also be attending. This will be the first time the school will be coming to Window Rock to help out with a seminar.

At the seminar, Upshaw and students from the school will use visual models to show how the teeth become unbalanced. Ultimately, the program is hoping that more people will understand how this affects the horses overall health and get them "floated", which is the method to bring them back into balance.

"If the mouth is balanced, the whole body is balanced," said Upshaw. Upshaw said that people spend a lot of money on feed for their horses, but its not being digested by horses because they're teeth have not been floated. What is happening is people are losing money and putting their horses health at risk without knowing it. The health seminar will be providing free dental exams, and will help to determine whether horse owners need to get their horses teeth floated.

Marvin Redhouse from Window Rock was at the vet clinic yesterday getting his horses teeth worked on. Redhouse, who owns eight horses, is one horse owner who is aware of the importance of floating.

"People who do have horses for at least five years or so are aware of it," Redhorse. "I'm learning as I go."

For more information on the free health seminar, call the Navajo Nation Veterinary and Livestock Program at 928-871-6615.