UOW TO TELL THE AGE. 



127 



Fig. 389.— Abcul Six Years Old. 



horses the edge of the lower jaw is round and full ; as the horse 

 becomes older, this edge becomes sharper and thinner. 



The most unique trick shown the 

 writer of telling the age was the fol- 

 lowing : — 



If a gold ring be attached to a hair 

 pulled from the tail or mane of a 

 horse, and suspended directly above 

 his head between his ears, it will 

 oscillate, like a pendulum, just the 

 number of times the horse is years 

 old, then stop and repeat. I have 

 repeatedly made the experiment, 

 and it certainly seemed to repeat 

 the age of the horse ; but I could not feel satisfied that the motion 



of the ring was not in a 

 great measure controlled 

 by the involuntary move- 

 ment of the hand. The 

 man who gave the idea 

 made the experiment in 

 the presence of the writer, 

 with apparent success. 



Jockeys frequently re- 

 sort to cutting down the 

 teeth of aged horses, so 

 as to simulate as much as 

 possible the appearance 

 of the mouth at eight or nine years of age. This was formerly 

 done by sawing or filing, but more 

 recently there has been invented, 

 by Dr. Lancer, a leading veterinary 

 surgeon of New Jersey, a very in- 

 genious instrument for chipping 

 off the teeth, so that the front nip- 

 pers can be cut down very quickly 

 and easily by any amateur. But 

 the breadth of the teeth and other 

 changes of form, as explained, will 

 expose the deception ; also the 

 deep hollow and gray hair about 

 the eyes, with the under lip con- Fig. 391.— Aboi;t Twenty Years Old. 



Fig. 390.— About Twelve Years Old. 



