use DateTime::Format::Strptime;

my $pat = DateTime::Format::Strptime->new(
    pattern => '%m-%d-%Y' );

my $dt1 = $pat->parse_datetime( "06-07-2003" );
my $dt2 = $pat->parse_datetime( "07-06-2003" );
print $dt1 < $dt2 ? "smaller" : "equal or bigger";