Equine dental care is an essential but often neglected welfare requirement, with dental problems causing pain, weight loss, and impaired performance that significantly affect horse quality of life.
Equine dental disease causes significant chronic pain that affects every meal and every moment of bitting and riding. Horses with sharp enamel points have oral ulcers against which every mouthful of food presses — a constant source of pain during the hours each day spent grazing or eating hay. The behavioral signs of dental pain — resistance to bitting, head tossing, weight loss, quidding food — are often interpreted as behavioral problems or training issues rather than pain signs, leading to inappropriate responses including harsher bitting or additional training pressure. Regular dental care that maintains comfortable oral function is one of the most impactful welfare investments for working horses. The stoic adaptation of horses to chronic pain means many horses with significant dental pathology show minimal obvious signs until the condition is advanced.