More Impounded-Horse Updates

His former owner was found guilty of second degree animal cruelty, a misdemeanor, on August 5, 1999.  He was fined and ordered to pay restitution costs.

Kip is a handsome Arab (or Arab-cross), approximately 18 years young.  He's 15+ hands tall and although called a gray, is white to my eyes.  He appears to be sound and undoubtedly has a long history of being ridden in some context.  We will be evaluating him under the saddle in the near future.

For an adoptive home, we would prefer a long-term/permanent placement, as he is an older horse and has clearly not always had an easy life.

Despite his age, he will need a person who has some horse experience.

To inquire about adopting Kip, please call HAROTC at (360) 455-6100.n

Kip, who is named after the gray in "The Man from Snowy River," is still with us.

He was impounded at the Yelm Auction in emaciated  condition, with a chronic draining wound, covered with rain-rot and badly needing his teeth floated.

He has grown fat and sassy in our care and is now looking for a new and long-term home.

How to Tell a Horse's Age by his Teeth
by Jim Hamilton, DVM (Thank you OHAHS!)

Starting at 2 years of age, the horse's front teeth (incisors) are the way to tell age.  There are 3 sets of incisors: central, intermediate and corners.

Open the horse's lips and look to see if all are baby teeth or adult's.  The central pair are adult (permanent at 2-2 1/2 yrs.; the intermediate at 3-3 1/2 yrs.; and the adult corner incisors at 4-4 1/2 yrs.  At 4 1/2-5 1/2 yrs., some horses (mostly males) grow canine teeth, which is that fang-like tooth just behind the incisors.

Now, starting at 6 yrs., you need to look at the flat (table) surface of the lower incisors.  There is a pit called the infundibulum that is easily seen in the center of each incisor's flat surface.  At 6 yrs., the pits of the lover central permanent incisors are worn out (disappear).  At 7 yrs., the lower central incisors lose their pit and the upper corner incisor develops a hook off the back edge.  By 8 yrs., all the lower adult incisors have lost their pit, but a new, small depression (dental star) appears in the lower central incisors.  At 9 yrs., the horse's lower central and intermediate,

and intermediate and upper central incisors will have a dental star, but the infundibulum (pit) of the upper corner incisor is still present--they do not disappear until the horse is 11 yrs. old.

From the age of 11 on, the incisors become more triangular and the teeth begin to project out toward the front of the mouth - more with each additional year..

The best way to get good at aging horses it by practice.  Look at as many horses of known age and test yourself.  Someday, you'll save a friend from buying a 1980 model that he thought was brand-new!n

"By 8 years of age, a horse's lower adult incisors have lost their pit, but a new, small depression (dental star) appears in the lower central incisors.."