Seemingly unrelated health issues in older horses can often be traced back to dental problems.

I do want to look in his mouth every six months to catch problems early.”

In fact, says Judd, the earlier in a horse’s life that you begin to evaluate his teeth the better. “A lost tooth doesn’t happen overnight. That situation is years in the making,” he says. “You will find abnormalities in young horses---for example, all their teeth don’t erupt at the same time and the upper molars may not erupt as fully as the others. As a result, the opposing molars on the bottom may grow taller, putting excess pressure on the top teeth. This pressure is chronic and causes the upper teeth to ‘cup’ and weaken. This can lead to periodontal disease, sinus infections and tiny fractures that weaken the teeth over time. If this goes uncorrected, you’re looking at significant problems by the time that horse is 25.”

Robertson also makes a case for early intervention: “How often a horse needs to be floated depends a lot on the individual,” he says. “But if you take a look annually and start maintenance work before things get bad, you’ll make a huge difference in that horse’s longterm health.”

The alternative, he says, is to risk facing choices down the line that no one wants to make. “I get so many calls from people---and I really hate these calls---where they say, ‘My horse is 25 years old, he’s dropping hay and feed, and I think it’s time to get his teeth done.’ By that time it’s too late to do anything,” says Robertson. “If I had to advise someone on only one thing to keep their horse alive longer, I’d tell them to take care of his teeth.”