Looking a horse in the mouth

Jean-Philippe Girot, international equine dentist, shares the secrets of giving horses a healthy smile.

"We have difficult, naughty horses," says Jean-Philippe Girot, as he parks his bag by the stall labelled with an exotic female name. "This one is a good patient."

That said, when the laconic Frenchman opens his large plastic box of implements any horse might feel a bit skittish.

His key implement is a speculum - a sinister glinting metal device resembling a gag from a serial killer's lair. There is also a black rubber box attached to what looks like a spherical steel golf ball.

"That is for grinding down the teeth to make a seat for the bit," says Girot.

Longest trip

On the surface, Girot should qualify for the same personal insurance bracket as a Dubai-based motorcyle courier. Except, of courses, that horses don't have the legal accountability of people driving Land Cruisers. Luckily, they also seem to lack the instinctive human ambivalence to dentistry.

In fact, it only takes a moment to pop the speculum into the horse's mouth. The horse remains unconcerned as Girot ratchets its mouth into an Eddie Murphy grin and, grabbing a file the length of frying-pan spatula, starts rasping away inside its jaw.

Girot has been putting equine teeth in order for a decade. He is currently on his longest trip so far to the Gulf. Over 3 months he has travelled between Dubai and Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman.

Yet, apparently, there are many horses still in need of regular dental care.

"Horses in the wild break down the sharp points on their teeth," he says. "When they try to do it themselves in a stall they break their teeth on concrete and cause trauma."

In the Gulf, where opportunities to graze can be rare, horses are especially prone to developing problem-teeth. These damage their gums and make eating painful.

"It is very important that a horse has a good mouth," he says. "If a horse doesn't eat, he doesn't look good."

Commitment

This commitment to equine well-being is Girot's vocation. The son of a vet, he was brought up in Chantilly, one of Europe's great breeding centres. He still keeps 2 horses himself, and at one time kept 10.

"I spent 15 years as a technician and vet in a clinic in Chantilly," he says. "Then I became a an assistant trainer. I worked in Australia and England to learn different methods."

In switching to dentistry, though, he was responding to a growing demand. Now, from his base in Chantilly, he travels to the Gulf, Spain and Switzerland.

So what are the secrets? "I stroke them. For a while I forget the job. I look in their eyes all the time. You can feel their mood. When you put your hand inside their mouths, you feel if they tense up. You know how many minutes you have," he says.

Human interpersonal skills are also crucial. "It is very important to get a good feeling with the groom," he says. "If the groom is relaxed, it's okay. I take time to talk. It is very important to listen to what the groom tells you about the horse."

Even a moment's inattention can be disastrous. "One time I went too quick. I relied too much on the groom. Suddenly the horse leapt over me. He hit me on the top of the head with the speculum. I still have the scar," he says.

For more information: jphg@bonjourequestrian.com