Can you really tell a horse's age by looking at its teeth?

Ran across an old poem and wondered if it was accurate.





To tell the age of any horse


Inspect the lower jaw, of course.


The sixth front tooth the tale will tell


And every doubt and fear dispel.





Two middle "nippers" you behold


Before the colt is two weeks old


Before eight weeks, two more will come


Eight months, the "corners" cut the gum





Two outside grooves will disappear


From the middle two in just one year


In two years from the second pair


In three the corners, too, are bare





At two, the middle "nippers" drop


At three, the second pair can't stop


When four years old, the third pair goes


At five, a full new set he shows





The deep black spots will pass from view


At six years, from the middle two


The second pair at seven years


At eight, the spot each "corner" clears





From the middle "nippers" upper jaw


At nine, the black spots will withdraw


The second pair at ten are white


Eleven finds the "corners" light





Continued-I'm out of characters!

Can you really tell a horse's age by looking at its teeth?
Nice poem! May be accurate!


And yes, you can see how old an horse is by looking at its teeth.


Starting at two years of age, the horse's front teeth (incisors) are the way to tell age. There are three sets of incisors: central, intermediate and corners.


Open the horse's lips and look to see if all are baby teeth or adults. The central pair are adult (permanent at 2 - 2 1/2 years., the intermediate at 3 - 3 1/2 years and the adult corner incisors at 4 - 4 1/2 years. At 4 1/2 - 5 1/2 years of age some horses (mostly males) grow canine teeth which is that fang-like tooth just behind the incisors.





Now starting at six years old, you need to look at the flat (table) surface of the lower incisors. There is a pit called the infundibulum that is easily seen in the center of each incisor's flat surface. At six years of age the pits of lower central permanent incisors are worn out (disappear). At 7 years the lower central incisors lose their pit and the upper corner incisor develops a hook off the back edge. By 8 years, all the lower adult incisors have lost their pit but a new small depression (dental star) appears in the lower central incisors. At 9 years of Age, the horse's lower central and intermediate and intermediate and upper central incisors will have a dental star but the infundibulum (pit) of the upper corner incisor is still present - they do not disappear until the horse is eleven years old.





From the age of eleven on, the incisors become more triangular and the teeth begin to project out toward the front of the mouth more with each additional year. The best way to get good at aging horses is by practice. Look at as many horses of know age and test yourself. Some day you'll save a friend from buying a 1980 model that he thought was brand new!





Hope this helped!
Reply:Yes you can. I'm not sure if that's accurate as I don't know much about it, but I'm sure it is.
Reply:Yep you can. There are certain grooves, shapes and rings that tell you how old they are. Obviously it can't be spot on but an equine dental technician can tell quite easily just by looking at the teeth. I like the poem :D
Reply:Yes, this actually is a very accurate description of what changest the teeth have through age. I always check the ones I have that are registered to get my eye in for what to look for at the sales.. :)
Reply:Cute and lovely poem! Don't know if it's all accurate. "Long in tooth" is a saying about getting old. You can also tell that a horse is getting up in years by the "dent" above his eye - the deeper the impression - the older the horse!
Reply:yep u can
Reply:yes you sure can
Reply:This is awsome! I would love to have a poster made and hang it in my tack room.


I believe it to be accurate. My Vet would love it.


There , I gave you a way to make some money!
Reply:That is a great poem, I learned it long ago. It is pretty good but aging a horse by it's teeth can be affected by the horses' diet, what type of soil it eats from, and bad habits like wind sucking or cribbing. When aging a horse I check both the teeth and the spread of the ribs, between the two I'm usually pretty accurate.
Reply:This is an old time poem from an age when people knew horses far better than today. After all they worked with them everyday and sometimes all day long for 6 and 7 days a week. So yes I imagine it is accurate. It does match very well with the little I do know. I just wish I could tell a horse's age from the teeth. I do know people who can, but I am not adept at it. I would like to combine that poem with a set of photographs.
Reply:The teeth will tell you about 1-2 years within the horses actual age. Some breeds change faster than others - like Mustangs, because of the harsh grasses they live on in the wild, will wear their teeth down a little faster. My Mustangs' teeth read about 2 years ahead of where they really are.





Good poem.
Reply:yes you can. from the wear and shape of them.
Reply:It's right!
Reply:Ya you can. Actually if yo buy a horse and no-one knows what ae it is, a vet can tell you by looking at their teeth
Reply:YA!
Reply:yes, the line that goes down the middle of the tooth will tell you about how old the horse is, the longer the line the older the horse is