Should we look gift horses in the mouth?

Never look a gift horse in the mouth. Anyone who loves horses wouldn’t worry about its teeth, but rather the loving care it needed when old. Cruelty to animals causes outrage among people who know that animals and birds feel instinctive fear when threatened, pain when injured and need shelter.

As with most domestic animals, horses have different personalities and bodies, from the magnificent dray horses whose lives were spent pulling heavy loads, to my uncle’s light-trap fast runner I encouraged...