288 



Handbook of Nature-Study 



ears indicate a high-strung, sensitive animal. The eyes are placed so 

 that the horse can see in front, at the side and behind, the last being 



necessary in order to aim a kick. Hazel 

 eyes are usually preferred to dark ones, 

 and they should be bright and prominent. 

 The nostrils should be thin-skinned, wide- 

 flaring and sensitive; as a wild animal, 

 scent was one of the horse's chief aids in 

 detecting the enemy. The lips should 

 not be too thick and the lower jaw should 

 be narrow where it joins the head. 



The horse's teeth are peculiar; there 

 are six incisors on both jaws; behind them 

 v is a bare space called the bar, of 



^SSsS^ss. which we have made use for 

 ^*W^> placing the bit. Back of the 

 bar, there are six molars or 



grinders on each side of each jaw. At the age of about three 

 years, canine teeth or tushes appear behind the incisors; these are 

 more noticeable in males, and never seem to be of much use. 

 Thus, the horse has on each jaw, when full-grown, six incisors, two 

 canines, and twelve molars, making forty teeth in all. The incisors are 

 prominent and enable the horse to bite the grass more closely than can 

 the cow. The horse when chewing, does not have the sidewise motion of 

 the jaws peculiar to the cow and sheep. 



The horse's coat is, when rightly cared for, glossy and beautiful; but 

 if the horse is allowed to run out in the pasture all winter, the coat becomes 

 very shaggy, thus reverting to the condition of wild horses which stand in 

 need of a warmer coat for winter; the hair is shed every year. The 

 mane and the forelock are useful in protecting the head and neck from 

 flies; the tail is also an efficient fly-brush. Although the mane and tail 



Hoofs of horses from earliest ages to the present time, 

 arranged in pairs, hind and front. 



