How can we tell the age of a horse?

Answer 1

By his teeth. The older a horse gets, the more his teeth spread out - place your fingers together on your thumb, making an "o". Now, push your fingers forward, making the "o" thin into an oval. That's how your horse's teeth protrude as he ages. Also those black marks on his teeth (the flat part) disappear with age. There are also grooves to indicate age that are too difficult to explain in here. An aged horse will also show hollows over his eye sockets and may have a swayed backbone... will need additional nutrients ... have digestive issues.

Answer 2

Some people think that their teeth will tell you how old they are. There are diagrams on the web that purport this:
Horse teeth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Horses' teeth are often used to estimate the animal's age, hence the sayings "long in the tooth" and "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" Quick Links: Horse anatomy - Teeth
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_teeth

HOWEVER: equine research states that If you think the truth can always be found in his mouth, you may have swallowed an old horse-trader's line.

How can you tell if that horse you're examining is in his prime or over the hill? You could try pinching his skin, as Arab horsemen did. You could feel his jawbone, judge the distance between his ribs or look for a hollow above each eye. The body equine reveals its age in many ways: An older horse's skin is less pliable and "drier" than that of a younger horse, his jawbone is thinner and sharper, his ribs are spaced farther apart and his eyes sit deeper in their sockets. But none of these "tests" offers anything approaching the reliability of the one you're most likely to use: aging a horse by the appearance of his front teeth. Only registration papers recording the actual birth year provide a more consistently accurate indicator of a horse's age. Still, that doesn't mean that teeth are always truthful.

Answer 3

By their teeth.
Starting at 2 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!

Answer 4

You can tell by the horse's teeth. The more dull the teeth, the older the horse is.

Answer 5

By their teeth, which shows level of wear.

Answer 6

Their teeth and ribs

Answer 7

the vet can tell by his or her teeth

Answer 8

by thier teeth

Answer 9

www.equusite.com has several resourses that will help. If I remember right they even have a pictorial chart.

Answer 10

By his teeth.