I have always wondered this, is there anything special you must do to care for your horses teeth? I always figured that their teeth were fine, but I am posting here to be sure.

When your vets comes out for the spring and fall shots they will look at your horses teeth. The vet will then determine if they need to be floated. With my horses it is usually once a year, but it depends on if your horse is in a pasture or in a stall. When the horses graze the naturally grind down their teeth.

We normally get ours checked yearly, more often if we notice something off. My dad can do a decent job himself but he feels better of a vet does it at least yearly since they have proper training and a degree to prove it. Most of ours pass fine since we let them graze alot, but some of the boarders are fancy show horses and are stalled alot and need floating more often.

I would think that you would want to care for all of your horses hygiene, teeth included. I'm sure if teeth care has been neglected it would be harder to take care of (more work needed for what was lacking), but I think if you can take care of your horse proper and not miss any-times to check up on the teeth, all should be fine.

From an article (http://www.equineboard.com/www.vet.purdue.edu/horses/Dentistry.html) I found online recently: "A 1994 survey estimated that 80% of horses have dental problems."

Could you imagine what that percentage is now in 2007? Here is the article if you want to give it a quick look over, I found it more than interesting, and sadly as much as I would love all pet/animal owners to take care of their responsibilities, not as many do, so I would estimate that % is about the same now, if not more. :(

Teeth care can be very important IMO. My horse's teeth get checked everytime the vet comes in, about 3 times a year. I am just a worrier, but it makes me feel better.

Thanks everyone for the helpful information. I am expecting the vet around November, so I will double check with her then to make sure she is looking at my horses teeth.