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.
Types of teeth
A fully developed horse of around five years of age will have between 36 and 44 teeth. All equines are heterodontous, which means that they have different shaped teeth for different purposes. All horses have twelve incisors at the front of the mouth, used primarily for cutting food, most often grass, whilst grazing. They are also used as part of a horse's attack or defence against predators, or as part of establishing social hierarchy within the herd.