Age of Equine It’s All in the Teeth

Determining Age Age affects usefulness and value Type, number and appearance of incisor teeth help determine correct age 5 years or less – some combination range from all milk teeth (temporary teeth) to all permanent incisors 6 to 12 years – number of cups (indentations) in permanent incisor teeth 12 years & over – examine cross section and slant of incisor teeth

What’s the Difference Temporary Teeth – small, white, oval shaped; wider side to side than front to rear Permanent Teeth – yellow, larger than temporaries with a general round surface Molars – used for grinding on each side Incisors – used for cutting

What’s the Difference 3 sets of incisors – Centrals, Intermediates, Corner Incisors (6 upper & 6 lower) Incisors have a cup or indentation in center of tooth that wears down with age and ultimately disappears

The Numbers Make the Difference Immature horses – Total 24 temporary teeth Mature horses – Total 36-38 permanent teeth Stallions & Geldings – 40-42 permanents Wolf Tooth (Canine) – appears in front of upper molar teeth. Accounts for difference

The Breakdown 1 year – All temporary incisors present / Cups gone from centrals 2 year - All temporary incisors present / cups gone 3 year - Temporary central incisors replaced with permanent central incisors

4 years -. Temporary intermediate incisors 4 years - Temporary intermediate incisors replaced with permanent intermediate incisors 5 years – All temporary incisors replaced with permanent incisors. Horse is full mouthed. 6 years – Cups gone from lower central incisors 7 years – Cups gone from lower intermediate incisors 8 years - Cups gone from lower corner incisors

9 years - Cups gone from upper central incisors 10 years - Cups gone from upper intermediate incisors 11 years - Cups gone from all incisors. Horse is smooth mouthed.

Extras A hook (worn edge) may appear on upper corner incisors at 7 to 11 years Galvayne’s Groove – Line that appears on the upper corner incisors around 10 to 11 years, gets longer as horse ages. Angle of Incidence – angle at which the incisor teeth meet. Increases and teeth wear down as horse ages.

Extras Floating – Filing off the sharp edges of a horse’s teeth with a rasp-like instrument. Bishoping – The practice of artificially drilling, burning or staining cups in teeth of older horses.