I met someone who found out he was running for mayor when the election board called him to congratulate him on winning. Turns out his party placed him on the ballot and didn’t tell him.
Horse’s teeth move as they age. Horses were incredibly valuable workers, increasing a family’s productivity greatly. If someone gave you (not sold you) a horse, trying to determine its age (and how much productivity you would get from it) was an insult to the giver. In today’s society, it would be something like someone giving you a car, and the first thing you do is check the odometer. Hey, man, free horse. Don’t knock it.
Of course there are trains. What did you expect them to do, walk?