A vet will be needed to treat the lure.
Quidding is a habit that some horses develop due to sore mouths or other health problems. When released by a horse, it stores a bolus of food in the corner of its mouth or drops the food after a few bites. Horses sometimes form balls of material while shaking themselves and then spit them out; Baled bits of hay or saliva-covered grain around a stall or manger, for example, are a sure sign that a horse has been suffocating.
Downing may be accompanied by nervous habits, such as chewing in a tent.
The most common cause of chattering is bad teeth. Horses’ teeth grow continually throughout their lives, because historically horses ate a variety of forages that wore down their teeth. Domestic horses often don’t have varied diets and their diets tend to be low in abrasive minerals, so while their teeth continue to grow, they don’t wear down. As a result, teeth can become pointy, sharp, or uneven, making chewing difficult. Horses can also get cavities and gum infections, just like people, both of which can cause toothaches that make chewing difficult or unpleasant.
Restlessness is often caused by bad teeth in a horse.
If a horse begins to wobble, a vet visit should be scheduled immediately. Your vet may need to float your horse’s teeth, which means he or she will use a power tool, file, or file to file down any sharp areas of the teeth and make them even again. This should ease the horse’s discomfort, resolving the trotting behavior. The vet may also check for signs of infection in the teeth, gums, or jaw that could explain the hesitation.
Horses that have suffered from chronic neglect may continue to grind as a lifelong habit because they are so used to toothaches. Even with careful dental work, previously neglected horses have a hard time giving up the behavior. The treatment may also be accompanied by nervous habits such as licking or chewing in the stall, sometimes indicating that the horse is frustrated. In such cases, you may need to feed your horse a special diet to ensure it receives enough nutrition; a vet can help with this.
In cases where swallowing is a learned behavior rather than a response to a medical problem, sometimes a horse will recover over time. An equine psychologist or behavior consultant can help with this, but it’s still important to ensure the horse receives supportive nutrition while being treated for weight gain.