Osteoarthritis of the Equine TMJ

Does your horse have trouble responding to the bit? Does he hold his head awkwardly at times or seem to have problems chewing? Does he show unexplained behaviour under saddle or have problems with certain gaits or leads? Or does he toss his head a lot especially when pressure is applied with his bit or perhaps a hackamore?
These symptoms may be indicators of a wide variety of conditions that should be checked by your vet. But your horse may also be showing signs of TMD a disease of the temporomandibular joint TMJ located just below and in front of the ears one each on either side of the head.

Other symptoms that may indicate a problem include uneven wear of the teeth which would be noticed by your vet cribbing ear sensitivity difficulty flexing at the poll head shyness and sensitivity around the jaw.
Julio periodically appeared uncomfortable and didnt finish his hay overnight says Rose. He liked to stick his tongue out the front of his mouth when in his paddock stall or in the cross ties but has never done so when bridled or working on the ground or under saddle. He has always been schooled in a rubber Happy Mouth Mullen loose ring bit with a plain noseband adjusted loosely and no other equipment. I simply do not believe in or use any sort of restrictive or forceful equipment other than loose evenlyadjusted side reins on occasion and when lunging.
But in May 2018 she observed an intermittent audible clunking from Julios head. Research led her to suspect a TMJ problem but a subsequent visit by her regular vet yielded nothing.
By the fall the sound was more frequent. Rose was worried. She stopped riding Julio and sought further veterinary advice. Radiographs taken by veterinarian Dr. Robyn Kopala of Meadow Lane Equine Clinic Surrey BC revealed that Julio had a radiopaque fragment in the middle of his right TMJ. Further examination and consultation led to Julio having an arthroscopy of the right TMJ. But the procedure did not reveal the location of the chip although synovitis and articular cartilage damage was evident. Flushing the joint removed several small pieces of cartilage.
The problem did not go away. By early December 2018 the clunking sound was back and it was clearly bothering him. Rose was at a crossroads. In Julios condition she knew he was not safe for saddle work and could not