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Strange behavior

4K views 13 replies 11 participants last post by  G and K's Mom 
#1 ·
One of my horses does this funny thing with his mouth... he will be standing there and he puts his head down and kind of turns it and then looks like he is grinding his teeth back and forth. He will do it for a little while one way and then turn his head and do it the other way. He had his teeth done last year and I am going to have the vet check again this year, don't know if this started because of his teeth or not, but now it almost seems like it is a habit. Anyone ever had a horse do this???
 
#4 ·
My three year old used to do this. What are you feeding him out of? I fed him out of a bucket and he would stretch out his neck, move his head up and down, and chew. I've since started feeding out of a trough for the last few weeks and he has stopped.

He's getting his teeth done soon, it's a weird behavior though >.<
 
#5 ·
We have a mare that does this when she's waiting for her hay to be thrown..Maybe its just a habit. I pick/chew my fingernails constantly, for many reasons. When I'm excited, bored, impatient, anxious, mad, etc. Maybe these horses do it for similar reasons.
 
#6 ·
My 4 year old does this, and its causing problems, because while he's done it since he was a yearling, he is not doing in undersaddle as well. teeth have all been done ect. He's even been scoped for ulcers. Nothing. 2 vets actually think its behavioral; kind of like how some people constantly tap things, he constantly opens his mouth.

I'm actually taking him in tomorrow to have his head and jaw xrayed to see if there something that we can pick up.
 
#9 ·
My horse does something like this, or the same thing. She twists her head sideways and "looks" like she is grinding her teeth. It usually only happens when she has been eating, but it's not very consistently, so you'd think her teeth right? But they are fine. She got them done last fall and the time before that was in like '05 [this was before I got her, I got them done as soon as I realized how long it had been since her last floating] and the vet said her teeth actually looked pretty good. So I don't know. ::shrugs::
 
#10 ·
My gelding does this when I do up with girth sometimes. :/ I don't know why. He's 100% healthy, teeth recently been done and all. I've given up trying to figure it out since he's not hurting. I think it's just a habit.
 
#11 ·
My horse does this it's like he's stretching his neck, tilting his head and grinding his teeth or biting his cheek(it looks like he is but he's not he's chewing) the vet said like people develop nervous habits like biting finger nails horses get the same things. When does he do it before or after riding? During grooming, before feeding? This is when my horse does it and the vet said it basically means he's "getting prepped" for whatever is about to happen. It's like when we get nervous or excited.
 
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