Q: My horse has a tooth missing on the left side of his mouth, and when he rests his fairly large tongue on this side, it can sometimes be seen from the outside. Dressage judges occasionally penalise us for this with comments such as 'tongue showing' or 'tongue poking out'. I don't think this is fair, as it is not due to tension or bad behaviour, but because because he has no tooth to keep it in place. Would it be possible to get special dispensation from British Dressage for a problem like this, and is there anything else I can do?
A: It would be interesting to know at what age your horse lost his tooth, and whether the problem started immediately after that or grew gradually worse with time - either way, I agree that it must be very frustrating to get marked down in your dressage test because of it. Although you do not mention which tooth your horse has lost, I imagine that you are referring to either his corner incisor tooth, or more likely his canine tooth, which sits just back from the incisor teeth and in front of the bit. The canines grow fairly large in some horses, and the sudden loss of one can lead to a lack of support, allowing the tongue to lean out of that side of the mouth. Unfortunately, there is no real cure for this problem, although there are certain dentistry techniques that may help the situation.
One possibility would be to reduce the canine on the other side of the mouth, to allow more room overall and prevent the tongue from being pushed out on one side. However, I feel that although it is wise to reduce the canines to a manageable size, by reducing the other one substantially you could actually make the problem worse and run the risk of the tongue showing on both sides. An additional factor is that once you reduce the height of a canine tooth, it will more or less stay that way, making the effects pretty much permanent.
Alternatively, you could try asking a qualified equine dental technician to shape bit seats in your horse’s mouth. This involves reducing the upper and lower front cheek teeth by rounding the front edge and tapering it from the gumline to the grinding surface of the tooth. The technique assists the horse by eliminating all sharp edges, making his mouth more comfortable when ridden, and also by creating more room within his mouth for the tongue.
British Dressage rules state that if the tongue is hanging straight down and the horse is showing no other signs of resistance, it will not be marked down. However, if the tongue is showing out of the side, judges are likely to put this down to some form of tension, and will penalise the rider as a result. It may therefore be an idea to discuss your situation with your equine dental technician or vet, and ask if he or she is able to verify that the loss of the tooth is the cause of the problem. If proven, it would be worth discussing this with British Dressage to see whether they would grant special dispensation for your horse.