[barb-tex]

I always heard the age thing too. My Grand father had horses which he used to tend cattle, and they were pasture and grain fed, prairie hay, if any and I never heard any thing about teeth floating. Did not affect life span as his last horse died at age 22.
barbra ann

[AnAmericanMother]

Actually, it's not the way the teeth are worn down, but the angle in the mouth, black spots and pits on the bearing surface, hooks on the teeth, and a stripe that appears and disappears on the front surface of the upper corner tooth ("Galvayne's Groove").

You can tell a horse's age within a year or so by looking in his mouth, at least until he turns 30 and Galvayne's Groove disappears completely from the tooth. Then he's just "aged".

There's some breed variation and individual variation as well, but it's a pretty good rule of thumb.

[Mr Rogers]

Floating doesn’t need to be done every 6 months. My two Arab mares have gone about 18 months, and one is just starting to need it. The vet said she could probably go 6-12 months more before it would be worth bringing her in - she won’t be sedated without a fight.

A lot depends on their feed. In southern Arizona, it would take a LOT of land to feed one horse. Hay doesn’t wear their teeth down as quick, I think.

That said, I’ve known people who did their own work, and most say that if you want it done right...skip the vet. There are horse dentists that do nothing but, and are very good. Our vet will do it, but he doesn’t like it and would be happy if we hired someone else for the job.