Jac was introduced to wearing the bit six hours into his training. If you watch the videos (Episode 18) you will see that overall his mouth is very quite, not chomping or chewing on the bit.
At over 22 hours in training he showed his first sign of discomfort by grinding his teeth. He did not do it consistently and it was very subtle but it was there.
Our equine dentist was out of town. Jac's symptoms could also be more than just teeth which is why I wanted to go to someone with an open mind; a vet who also does chiropractic and acupuncture.
Dr. Luckenbill checked Jac over thoroughly including; straight line trotting, chiropractic evaluation; jaw, teeth, muscles, motion palpation, chiropractic adjustment, removal of wolf teeth and floating (removing sharp edges) of Jac's sharp teeth. Dr. Luckenbill didn't see a need for acupuncture with Jac.
Jac now has over ninety hours of training and the teeth grinding has not reappeared.
A special thanks to Dr. Luckenbill at The Pony Express Veterinary Hospital for allowing us to video and for helping Jac.
This is the story of two-year-old Jacs Electric Whiz (Jac), the last baby out of Whizards Baby Doll, better known as "Roxy". Roxy touched the hearts of horse lovers around the world when she and Stacy Westfall made history with their bareback and bridleless freestyle reining ride. The loss of Roxy in 2012 has left a void in the equine community. Although nobody can replace her, Roxy's spirit lives on, not only in our hearts, but in Jac as well.
Join us as we follow Jac through weekly videos documenting his training journey from his first session to his first show and more. It is a journey filled with questions, breakthroughs, setbacks and accomplishments... and everything in between.
music by Jason Shaw@audionautix.com