Just wondering - how accurate is ageing by teeth in young horses?

[maya2008]

I was always led to believe it was pretty much spot on, then read a few accounts where the age was known but teeth gave a different answer, and just wondered. We have a 4yo (who was aged by teeth and whose date of birth is unknown) who by all accounts thinks she is 5yo (typical 5yo behaviour, 5yo physical development and general maturity) so it grabbed my interest.

 

[HufflyPuffly]

I'd say mostly accurate but not fool-proof. Skylla should have been three when I bought her but her teeth aged her younger, which the breeder confirmed once I contacted them, so teeth aging was accurate with her. Beryl I know her exact birthday but her teeth have her slightly younger (still had caps that should have gone) than she is, so for her its not accurate to go just off teeth!

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Do you know the year of birth?

Both above similar to my mare, date is recorded and know it’s correct but she’s just turning 5 but her teeth are similar to a 6yo. The dentist said some horses just develop in the mouth faster. Like me and my brother lost our baby teeth so late up to most.

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

The vet who did Beau's 5 stage said it's very obvious until they're about 6.

 

[Rob1585]

It’s still pretty variable, while majority can be aged to a year, some horses can be +/- 1yr either side

 

[Cortez]

Teeth are a rough guide only.

 

[Gloi]

All the ones I've had whose exact age I've known have lost their baby teeth on schedule.

 

[criso]

Better in young horses than mature but some do vary.

Most accurate 0-2 years

The Frequency of Errors in Determining Age Based on Selected Features of the Incisors of Icelandic Horses

Methods of assessing the age of horses based on the appearance of teeth, although used for many years, seem to suffer from relatively large errors. However, this method can play an auxiliary role in identifying horses of unknown origin. Furthermore, this ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

.

I know of horses where vets and dentist have got it wrong, one case said the horse 3 not 5 but the history was known.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Mine was 6 according to his replacement passport at vetting - vet said he's around that age but could be a year younger or older (I suspect he's a year younger actually) as aging by teeth isn't 100% accurate at that age.

 

[maya2008]

Thanks all, it’s interesting to see it’s not as dead on as I always thought. Thinking about it, my children didn’t lose their teeth at quite the same ages either. My son has always lost his early, daughter late.

In comparison with her known age friend, this pony had:
- fluid on her face that the vet said was due to growth plates, exactly the year before the friend did.
- tooth bumps under her jaw, again, a year before the friend did.
- same body shape as friend - long, lean, sparsely muscled - a year before.

Her upper and lower incisors grew down enough to meet and be in wear, in January. That then indicates she got pregnant at 17 months and gave birth at 2 years 5 months. It also puts her at being born in the dead of winter, as a feral foal.

That long, lean body shape she had at supposedly turning 2yo looked completely different from her daughter, who would in theory be the same age now if you assumed teeth were early and she was actually born in the spring. Daughter is still taller than she is long, as is daughter’s same age friend.

We will continue to go by the youngest possible age she could be, as that is always safest, but I really hope we only have to go through the 5yo zoomies once!

 

[Glitter's fun]

In the days before chips & passports* they used to say the teeth show what a youngster's skeletal development is likely to be. So although they may not tell you accurately what the exact number of date of birth was, they will tell you if its ok to back yet etc. So if the date you know disagrees with the teeth, still go with the teeth.


*I'm very old and any information I give is likely to have been disproved when the dinosaurs went extinct.

 

[maya2008]

Pics of current babies and the one I am questioning. All supposed to be roughly the same age at the time in their lives when the photo was taken, current babies string test to taller also, yet are currently smaller than the other one was at the ‘same’ age.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

My tb's teeth are really angled so his teeth say he is much older than he is. My 27yo wb's teeth say he is much younger!!