Injury

   Horses also have an uncanny ability to find anything that will hurt them.

   If there is one nail sticking out of a five mile long fence, they will find it and rip themselves from stem to stern. One sharp object on the ground in a piece of land the size of New York, and they will step on it. Another problem with horses is that their throat muscles only move in one direction, so they can't throw up. If you give a horse a large piece of carrot, or similar object, and it is not chewed properly, it can become lodged in the throat and suffocate the horse. Like all herbivores, a horse's teeth grow constantly throughout its life, and the age of a horse can be told by looking at its teeth. A growth groove on two teeth, and other tooth patterns, are used to do this. That is where the old saying, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" comes from. Looking inside a horse's mouth will reveal information on its age and health. Domestic horses also need to have their teeth "floated" regularly. This is done by putting a special bracket in a horse's mouth to hold it open, then using a file to smooth and level the chewing surface of the teeth. Uneven wear creates sharp pieces of tooth, which can cut the horse's mouth, and uneven teeth can't chew food properly which causes health problems.