My first thought was worry about grazing, then I remembered that all species of rumanants are missing the top row & they graze just fine! So, sure, I’d buy a horse without front teeth.
On the positive side, less of a risk of being bitten!!
[QUOTE=CopperFoxFarm;8897758]
My first thought was worry about grazing, then I remembered that all species of rumanants are missing the top row & they graze just fine! So, sure, I’d buy a horse without front teeth.
On the positive side, less of a risk of being bitten!![/QUOTE]
The worst you would risk is being the recipient of a nasty suck!
Thanks for the replies. I will make sure she sees it. Not that it’s going to make her decision much easier.
I’ve seen horses with front teeth worn right down to the gum line from cribbing and they were very nice, expensive horses.
One of my most beloved geldings was missing his two front teeth (upper). Story was he fell on the starting gate. Have no idea the truth. But no impact on bitting or eating. I just told him not to smile in public 
Nope. Horses are enough of a problem as it is.
No horse is perfect so I would give him consideration if I liked him otherwise.
[QUOTE=skipollo;8898152]
Nope. Horses are enough of a problem as it is.[/QUOTE]
It’s rarely, if ever, a problem.
Just remember…
The deep thought and contemplating you are doing now…will be the same thoughts the person that comes to look at him when he is on the resale block. You may lose a (or more) sale (s) because of it. I get him if he was great if I was buying for myself but…
I just bought one who is missing his front 2 top teeth. You can’t tell unless you open his mouth. He grazes and eats just fine. He does NOT hang his tongue out under saddle. You literally would NEVER know unless you walk up to him and open his mouth.
Matter of fact, I didn’t know until the PPE! My trainer knew but forgot to mention it to me. I didn’t notice when I tried him.
I knew one who was missing his front teeth. His name was “TJ” for Toothless Joe 
didn’t seem to bother him any.
I had a racehorse come through my barn to be broken as a yearling and later returned as a layup who had knocked his front teeth out four days before shipping off the farm as a Keeneland September Book 1 :eek: he’s a real looker and total disappointment to have to scratch from the sale, but he really did a number on himself. He ran into the auto waterer in his small individual turnout paddock… yes that really happened lol.
He was scratched due to the leg injury that happened during the incident , not his missing teeth … although he was a tough cookie to handle so I imagine he would have been hell to deal with on the shank.
He needed up having one tooth grow back in, I assume he only knocked the milking cap off that one, but his other incisors were goners.
He lived a perfectly normal life while here… only issue was you could put a lip chain on him. His gums were deformed bc of it and it wouldn’t stay. That made dealing with him difficult at times. He also wasn’t able to keep his tongue in his mouth when working… it would flop all over the place, but it didn’t bother him! He ended up being a decent racehorse too.
[QUOTE=PlanB;8900483]
It’s rarely, if ever, a problem.[/QUOTE]
We had a stallion that injured his teeth when grabbing the wire fence over the top board and pulling back.
The vet tended to him, took teeth out and all healed fine.
A few years later, he kept getting abscesses and he had serious mouth problem from that.
I would be very careful about any mouth problems.
Try to find what happened and how it was handled.
Let a vet on PPE tell your friend if there may be a problem there or not.
The question is, for a project horse with an eye to resale, why go there at all?
That is one your friend will have to answer.
the only thing that I would hesitate over is the possibility of tongue lolling. That , though, is more often a training acceptance issue than dentition.
deer and goats do not have upper incisors. The dental pad aids in their grazing and browsing. Are there really that many horses kept today that do much grazing?
it may be a challenge for resale as ,like someone said, buyers want a paragon of perfection
I would talk to a dentist - their teeth keep growing and with no top teeth to stop it, it may cause issues
[QUOTE=amb;8896924]
My favoritest OTTB ever had no top front teeth. (Also no apparent trouble grazing.) I’d be fine with it.
If this is going to be your friend’s main horse for a couple of years, I wouldn’t even be thinking hard about resale value if she likes the horse. A couple of years is a long time.[/QUOTE]
Same here! I got mine as a two year old, and he was just born that way. It was a complete non issue and did not impact resale value whatsoever.
[QUOTE=inca;8900978]
I just bought one who is missing his front 2 top teeth. You can’t tell unless you open his mouth. He grazes and eats just fine. He does NOT hang his tongue out under saddle. You literally would NEVER know unless you walk up to him and open his mouth.
Matter of fact, I didn’t know until the PPE! My trainer knew but forgot to mention it to me. I didn’t notice when I tried him.[/QUOTE]
I had a Percheron cross that had his two top front teeth kicked out - years before I bought him. Same story - no trouble eating, grazing, keeping weight on, tongue didn’t hang out etc. Had regular dental care once a year, was never a problem. I’m surprised that someone wouldn’t buy a horse because it was missing two front teeth, much less of a potential issue than blemishes on the legs, I would think?
It turned out on his PPE that his dental issues were more than just missing a couple of teeth. So she decided to pass on him. It had potential to end up costing much $$$.
