AGE, AS INDICATED BY THE TEETH. 425 



876. Collateral circumstances to be taken into consideration. 



In judging of the age of the horse by the teeth, every collateral cir- 

 cumstance requires to be taken into consideration, such as the form of 

 the mouth, the way in which the teeth meet and close on each other, the 

 food on which the animal has been kept, any irregularity in the upper 

 teeth which may cause increased or diminished wear on the lower teeth, 

 and also the habits of the horse in the stable. The teeth of animals, 

 which bite at the rack or manger whilst being cleaned, invariably present 

 appearances of wear beyond their real age. 



The body also presents many indications of the age which may assist 

 us in forming an accurate opinion, and sometimes may enable us to cor- 

 rect an erroneous impression produced by some abnormal appearance of 

 the teeth. The young horse is fleshy about the gums and head, and the 

 hollow over the eye is shallow. Year by year, as age increases, the gums 

 lose their fleshiness, the head becomes more lean, and the hollow over the 

 eye deepens. The shoulders lose much of their thickness and become 

 finer, and assume an appearance of greater length. The hind quarters in 

 like manner lose some of their roundness, and the animal generally gains 

 an appearance of more breeding than he had in his younger days. The 

 back becomes more or less hollow, a result partly due to the effect of 

 weight, especially in long-backed animals, and partly to loss of fleshiness 

 of the muscles which run along the spine. 



Again, as the horse becomes old, the fulness of the chin under the 

 mouth disappears. The inferior margin of the branches of the bone of 

 the lower jaw also becomes thin. Lastly, the general appearance of the 

 aged horse is much influenced by the work he has done and the treatment 

 he has received. 



Age must not be judged by any one sign, but by a mean judiciously 

 struck between all the signs, and by a careful consideration of all colla- 

 teral circumstances. It never happens that all the signs combine to- 

 gether to deceive a careful and well-informed observer. 



From these pages the reader will perceive that after six years old, i. e. 

 after the structural changes in the mouth are completed, it is impossible 

 to lay down any one single definite rule by which the age can be ascer- 

 tained. Still, with a little trouble and attention there is no real difficulty 

 in acquiring a knowledge of the horse's age up to a comparatively late 

 period of his life. 



Such a knowledge is always valuable to an intending purchaser. 

 Horses of weight or nine years old are still in their prime ; but from want 

 of knowledge of the means of ascertaining the real age, and from very 

 natural distrust of what the owner may tell them, the public are very 

 shy of buying such horses ; and consequently they may generally be 

 obtained at prices far below their real value. 



The Author is well aware of the popular feeling in favour of young 

 horses ; but in his own opinion a moderately fresh " aged " horse is gene- 

 rally a much more useful, presently available, and therefore more really 

 valuable animal, than a young untried horse with all troubles, ailments, 

 diseases and liability to disease before him. 



