THE HORSE. 697 



and the third molar wanting. The three last grinders and the tushes are never shed. At six 

 years, the mark on the central nippers is worn out, but there will still be a difference in color 

 in the center of the tooth. In the next pair the mark is shorter, broader, and pointed, and 

 in the corner teeth the edges of the enamel are somewhat worn. The tushes or canine teeth 

 have now attained their full growth, and are nearly or quite an inch long, the grinder is fully 

 grown, and all the grinders on a level. The teeth are now all of them fully grown. At 

 seven years of age, the &quot; mark &quot; is worn out in the four central nippers, and is wearing away 

 in the corner teeth. The tush also at this period will begin to get rounded at the point and 

 edges. 



At Eight Years, the mark is gone from all the bottom incisors, and the tush is more 

 rounded in every respect. After this period, nothing remains in the bottom incisors to define 

 definitely the age of the horse. * 



It is stated by good authority that dishonest dealers resort to the following mean and 

 cruel method of prolonging the mark in the lower nippers of the horse: The horse is thrown 

 down, an excavation dug with an engraver s tool in the plain surface of the corner teeth, in 

 a form resembling the mark of a seven-year old horse, after which the cavity is burned with 

 a hot iron, which leaves a permanent black stain. The next pair of nippers are then slightly 

 touched. By this means a horse nine or ten years old is made to have the appearance of one 

 of seven years of age, to a person inexperienced in judging the age of a horse. But to the 

 experienced eye this deception is easily perceived by the irregular appearance of the 

 cavity, the black stain around the tushes, the sharpened edges and concave inner surface of 

 which can never be given again, the marks on the upper nippers, and the general appearance 

 of the horse. 



After eight years of age, sometimes some slight marks may be seen in the nippers of the 

 upper jaw, the marks remaining longer there than in the lower nippers, which is generally 

 believed to be one or two years. At nine years of age, the mark will be obliterated from the 

 middle upper nippers, from the second pair at ten, and from all at eleven. The teeth also 

 undergo a great change, being shorter and more rounded, 



After the Horse is Eleven Years Old, and until very old, the age may be determined 

 with a considerable degree of accuracy from the shape of the upper surface of the nippers. At 

 eight years they are oval, but as the animal gets older, their surface becomes round instead of 

 oval, the teeth become diminished in size, and by lessening in width, become separated a little 

 apart from each other. At eleven years the second pair of nippers are quite rounded and 

 the corner ones at thirteen. At fourteen, the faces of the central nippers become rather tri 

 angular, and at seventeen they all have this appearance. At nineteen, the angles begin to 

 wear off, and the oval form is again assumed, but in a reversed manner, that is, from out 

 ward, inward. At twenty-one, all the nippers have this form. 



Circumstances will, of course, vary with different conditions, methods of feeding, the 

 care the animal has received, etc., but the above rules for determining the age will be found, 

 in the main, reliable. The diminution of the bars of the mouth denote increasing old age, 

 they becoming less prominent at ten years. Other indications of old age, aside from those of 

 the teeth, are gray hairs over the eyes and about the muzzle; sunken appearance of the eyes, 

 and the deepening of the hollows over them ; thinness of lips, as well as their hanging down ; 

 sinking of the back, sharpened appearance of the withers, and the disappearance of tumors 

 of every kind. 



Horses, when kindly treated, will remain quite vigorous for a long period, and also will 

 attain great age. We have known of their reaching the age of forty-five years, and still be 

 quite active. An account is recorded by Mr. Percival of a horse that died in his sixty-second 

 year. American Eclipse was used successfully in Kentucky for stock purposes at the age of 



