Horse teeth refers to the dentition of equine species, including horses and donkeys. Equines are both heterodontous and diphyodontous, which means that they have teeth in more than one shape (there are up to five shapes of tooth in a horse's mouth), and have two successive sets of teeth, the deciduous ("baby teeth") and permanent sets.
As grazing animals, good dentition is essential to survival, and continued grazing creates specific patterns of wear, which can be used along with patterns of eruption to estimate the age of the horse.
Read more about Horse Teeth: Types of Teeth, Tooth Growth, Tooth Wear, Continuous Eruption and Loss, The Teeth and The Bit, Dental Problems, In Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the words horse and/or teeth:
“If this bureau had a prayer for use around horse parks, it would go something like this: Lead us not among bleeding-hearts to whom horses are cute or sweet or adorable, and deliver us from horse-lovers. Amen.... With that established, let’s talk about the death of Seabiscuit the other night. It isn’t mawkish to say, there was a racehorse, a horse that gave race fans as much pleasure as any that ever lived and one that will be remembered as long and as warmly.”
—Walter Wellesley (Red)
“The wisdom of others remains dull till it is writ over with our own blood. We are essentially apart from the world; it bursts into our consciousness only when it sinks its teeth and nails into us.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)