The verdict of a new study about your horse’s teeth

A new study compared the mouths of horses kept at pasture, in stables, or a mix of the two. The headline says the mixed system came out best, but the details are actually more interesting, and they make a strong case for regular dental checks, whatever your setup.

Kunz and colleagues published the study in Frontiers in Veterinary Science on 18 August 2026. The researchers examined 69 healthy adult crossbred horses, 23 from each of three management systems and none had ever had dental treatment. One experienced vet examined every horse under standing sedation, using an oral speculum, a dental mirror and a headlight.

The three groups

System	How the horses were kept	Diet	Average age
Extensive	At pasture full-time, all year	Native pasture in spring and summer; oat and ryegrass pasture in autumn and winter	17.2 years (9–31)
Semi-extensive	Partly stabled, about 12 hours a day at grass	Native pasture, plus alfalfa hay and commercial feed mixed with ground maize	15.4 years (5–21)
Intensive	Stabled, out only for 3–4 hours of work	Alfalfa hay three times a day, concentrate twice a day	13.0 years (8–20)

 

All the horses were fed at ground level.

What the researchers found

Every group had dental problems, and the average number per horse was almost the same in all three: 3.78 in the pasture group, 4.09 in the mixed group and 4.22 in the stabled group. The difference was not statistically significant, so the mixed system did not produce fewer problems overall (in terms of statistical significance) but what did differ was the type of problem.

Pasture horses had more gaps between the teeth. These gaps, called diastemata, can trap food and lead to painful gum disease. 83% of the pasture horses had gaps between their cheek teeth, compared with 65% of the mixed group and 22% of the stabled group. Irregular incisors (the front teeth that cut the grass) followed a similar pattern of 52%, 48% and 9% across the group.

Stabled horses had more ulcers and ridges. Ulcers inside the cheeks, usually caused by sharp enamel points, were found in 91% of the stabled horses, compared with 78% at pasture and 61% in the mixed group. Excessive transverse ridges, exaggerated ridges across the chewing surface of the cheek teeth, affected 52% of the stabled horses but only 9% of each of the other groups.

The mixed group avoided the worst of both. The mixed group had the fewest ulcers and sat in the middle for gaps between teeth. It was the only group with more of one problem, dorsal curvature of the incisors, which affected 22% of these horses, compared with 9% at pasture and none of the stabled horses.

The authors describe the semi-extensive horses as having fewer and less severe problems.

Why might management matter?

The authors offer some possible explanations for the findings, but it is worth bearing in mind that these are just possibilities:

• Horses at grass use their incisors to bite off forage and spend longer chewing fibrous food, which may encourage food to pack between teeth and wear them unevenly. Stabled horses tend to pick up feed with their lips instead.
• Concentrate-based diets are less abrasive and may reduce the side-to-side jaw movement that wears teeth evenly. That could explain the sharper points, the ulcers they cause, and the ridges seen in stabled horses.
• Because no tooth decay was found around the gaps, the authors think the gaps were more likely caused by wear and feeding behaviour than by decay.

Reading the study with care

• This study is just a snapshot. The horses were examined once, so the study shows an association between management and dental problems, not that one causes the other. The authors say this themselves.
• Age may play a part. The pasture horses were about four years older on average than the stabled horses, and the authors acknowledge this may have influenced some findings.
• Location and specific farm effects are mixed in. The pasture and stabled groups each came from a single property, so local pasture, feed and breeding are bundled together with the management system.
• It’s a small study. There were 23 horses per group.
• Some problems may have been missed. No oral camera (oroscope) or X-rays were used, so the full extent of fractures and gaps couldn’t be assessed.
• Local conditions differ. The paper doesn’t say where the horses were kept, and pastures and feeds will differ from South African conditions.

The authors call for larger, longer-term studies to confirm the links they found.

What it means for our horses

• Regular dental checks matter whatever the set-up. The clearest finding is that horses that had never had dental treatment averaged about four problems each in every system.
• Know each system’s weak spots. If your horse lives out, make sure to ask for the gaps between teeth to be checked. If he is stabled on concentrates, sharp points, ulcers and ridges are more likely.
• A mix of turnout and hay may help, but this study hints at that rather than proving it.
• Watch for warning signs, such as dropping food, slow eating, weight loss, bad breath, food packed in the cheeks, or new resistance to the bit. If any of these signs are present, a vet or dentist should be contacted as a matter of urgency.

---

Sources

• Kunz et al. 2026, Semi-extensive management system drives lower prevalence of equine orodental disorders, Frontiers in Veterinary Science 13:1827412: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2026.1827412/full