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Do Horses have to brush their teeth?

No, they don’t! Since horses are vegetarians, all the grass and hay that they eat act like dental floss to help keep their teeth clean. Because they don’t eat junk food like we do (okay, some of them eat sugar cubes, and others eat kid’s leftover lunches on occasion), they don’t get cavities like we do. But, like us, they need to be seen by an equine dentist at least once a year. Why? Well, read on to find out!

Horses have basically the same type of teeth that we do – incisors in the front; pre-molars in the middle, and molars in the back. When horses are born, they don’t have molars or incisors (they’re born with pre-molars only) so that they don’t bite their mommies when they are being born. Their first teeth, incisors, come in at 6-9 days, and by 6-9 months they have a full mouth of baby teeth. They start to lose their baby teeth and grow in permanent teeth at two years of age, and by the time they’re about 4-5 years old have lost all their baby teeth and have all their permanent teeth.

Male horses have different teeth than female horses — they get canine teeth, which start coming in when they are between four and five years old.

All horses get wolf teeth, which start growing when they are between 9 months and 1 year old. Their wolf teeth need to be pulled before they start being ridden so they don’t interfere with the bit. Wolf teeth are useless teeth, and are leftovers from pre-historic times when they were used for fighting.

Horses’ teeth continue to grow down throughout their lives, unlike human’s teeth which finish growing once all the permanent teeth are in. Horses in the wild are able to file their teeth down themselves, because they aren’t eating grain and soft hay and grass. But our domesticated horses can’t file their own teeth down, so they have to be filed at least once a year. This process is called floating. If the horse doesn’t get their teeth floated on a regular basis, the ends of their teeth can become sharp and poke the sides of their mouth or even the sides of their tongue. Their teeth can also get in the way of the bit. If horses can’t make good connections with their upper and lower molars, or if their incisors are so long they can’t make contact in the back of their mouth with their molars, they can’t chew their food properly, and it either falls out of their mouth while they’re eating or they swallow it without chewing properly and can’t digest it well, which causes them to lose weight. If their teeth are interfering with their bit, they end up tossing their head or holding their head up high to try and evade the bit.

But as long as the horse is seen by an equine dentist at least once a year, the dentist can correct any problems and keep the horse happy and healthy. Here at NFF Stables, we are proud to have all 54 of our horses taken care of by Harmony Little, of Harmony’s Equine Dentistry. She is a graduate of the American School of Equine Dentistry.

For more information on Equine Dentistry, please call Harmony Little, EqDT, at 240-535-1218.

For more information on NFF Stables horse programs, please call Amy Wokasien 301-349-2011 or go to the NFF Web Page