IN FOCUS: DENTAL FACTS

• Horses have 36 to 44 teeth, including at least 12 incisors and 24 cheek teeth.

• Less than 28 percent of mares have canine teeth, the small, sharp teeth between the incisors and the molars.

• Wolf teeth, the very small first premolars, are not found in every horse. The potential of these teeth to interfere with the bit is widely debated, but sharp, loose or malformed wolf teeth are problematic and are typically removed.

• A horse’s teeth erupt at a rate of about one-eighth inch per year. A young horse may carry as much as seven pounds of teeth beneath his gum lines.

• The dark “craters” on the surface of permanent incisors or upper check teeth aren’t cavities, they are called infundibula or cups. They wear away as the horse ages, leaving a flat mark called the enamel spot.