14^ 



THE HORSE. 



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and tne mark becoming small and faint. At this period, likewise, the 

 second pair of grinders will be shed, and previous to this, will be the 

 atlem,)t of the dealer to give his three-year-old colt an additional year, but 

 the fraud may be detected by an examination similar to that whicli \ye have 

 already described. 



At four years the central nippers 

 will be fully developed ; the sharp 

 edge somewhat worn off; the mark 

 shorter, wider and fainter: the next 

 pair will be up, but they will be small, 

 with the mark deep, and extending 

 quite across them ; and the corner 

 nippers, larger than the inside ones, 

 yet smaller than they were, flat, and 

 the mark nearly effaced ; the sixth 

 grinder will have risen to a level with 

 the others, and the tushes will begin 

 to appear. 



Now, more than at any other time, 

 will the dealer be anxious to put an additional year upon the animal, for the 

 difference between a four-year-old colt and a five-year-old horse, in strength, 

 utility and value, is very great ; but the want of wear in the other nippers, 

 the small size of the corner ones, the little growth of the tush, the small- 

 ness of the second grinder, the low forehand, the legginess of the colt, and 

 the thickness and little depth of the mouth, will, to the man of common 

 experience among horses, at once detect the cheat. 



The tushes (see p. 134) are four in number, two in each jaw, situated 

 between the nippers and the grinders, much nearer to the former than the lat- 

 ter, and nearer in the lower jaw than in the upper, but this distance increasing 

 in both jaws with the age of the animal. In shape it somewhat resembles 

 a cone ; it protrudes about an inch from the gum, and has its extremity 

 sharp-pointed and curved. At the age of which we are now speaking, the 

 tushes are almost peculiar to the horse, and castration does not appear to 

 prevent or retard their development. All mares, however, have the begin- 

 nings of them in the chambers of the jaw, and they appear externally in 

 the majority of old mares. Their use is not evident : perhaps in the wild 

 state of the animal they are weapons of offence ; so as that he can more 

 firmly seize, and deeply wound his enemy. 



The breeder often attempts to hasten the appearance of the tush, and he 

 cuts deeply through the gum to remove the opposition which that would 

 afford. To a little extent he succeeds. He may possibly gain a few weeks, 

 but he cannot gain more ; for the resistance of the gum is not like that of 

 a solid and firmly-fixed tooth, and is much more easily overcome by the 

 regular process of nature. After all, there is much uncertainty as to the 

 appearance of the tush, and it may vary from the fourth year to four years 

 and six months. It belongs, in the upper jaw, both to the inferior and 

 superior maxillary bones (see n, p. 66) ; for, while its fang is deeply im- 

 bedded in the inferior maxillary, the tooth penetrates the process of the 

 snperior maxillary at the union of those bones. 



At four years and a half, or between that and five, the last important 

 change takes place in the mouth of the horse. The corner nippers are 

 ghed, and the permanent ones begin to appear; the central nippers are 

 considei ably worn, and the next pair are beginning to show the marks of 

 usage. The tush has now protruded, and is generally a full half inch ia 



