Did you ever wonder where the saying “long in the tooth” originated?

Why, from horses of course!

Horses are born with baby teeth, just like us, which usually fall out by the time horses are five years old. After that, their incisor teeth grow in length as they age—the older the horse, the longer their teeth.

Back in the day, many horses didn’t have registration papers that recorded their date of birth, so horse traders judged a horse’s age by the length of their teeth. Thus, there’s another saying—“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” meaning, if someone gives you a gift, be grateful and don’t examine it too closely.

There’s some great information on the internet about dental care for horses. Do horses have dentists? They sure do!

Here’s some photos to help see the difference.

1. JJ displaying his baby teeth at around nine months old. 

2. JJ’s teeth at age 7 years. 

3. Cappy’s teeth at 20 years.