These two photos are the photos of the week not because they are awesome examples of my photographic skill. Instead they are here because what I’m photographing is bizarre, yet interesting. These two photos are of our large animal vet, Dr. John Froenig, of the Animal Medical Center in Hutchinson, MN, floating the teeth of Mariah, my friend Steve’s horse. I had never seen this done before and it was fascinating. The process starts by the vet giving your horse anesthesia, which in this case makes her sleepy, resistant to pain, and carefree. Surprisingly, she is still able to remain standing while under the anesthesia. Once he has given the medication, he literally supports her head by tying it to the beam above, and then putting a sinister looking metal bracket in her mouth to hold it open. Next he takes out a power float, which is an electric drill attached to a metal bar that is about 2 feet long and has a grinder at the end. He then proceeds to grind off the sharp points that will sometimes form on the cheek teeth of the horse.

Why is it called floating their teeth? I’m not sure, but this site has more info about the procedure in general.

Earlier that day I had gone to the dentist myself to get my teeth cleaned. I’m glad I did that first. If I had watched this first, I don’t know that I would have been able to stomach going to my own dentist later.

–Pete