December challenge; 10. A gift horse?

There’s no such thing as ‘free’ gift. Money had to be exchanged in the first place to get these vouchers and then requires another exchange to realise any benefit.

It would appear that horses' gums recede as they age, which makes the teeth appear to grow long. So checking the teeth of a horse given as a gift is a way of checking for old age. Although how many of us actually receive a horse as a gift (apart from the odd Tojan) is beyond me.

Having said that, it does appear to have been the done thing in the late middle ages, albeit with the following caveat; "No man ought to looke a geuen (given) hors in the mouth." —John Heywood, 1546.