DEALERS' TRICKS 127 



" Yorking " is another practice resorted to by 

 dealers. When a colt is three years old the dealer will 

 punch out the middle nippers and so hasten the develop- 

 ment of the four-year-old teeth. At eight years the 

 marks are all worn away, and the age is then told by 

 the angle and shape of the teeth. The teeth do not grow 

 long, as imagined by some people, but the gums shrink 

 and give the tooth a longer appearance. 



With regard to the age of the horse from a buyer's 

 point of view, my experience is that a horse eight 

 years is in his prime, providing he has not been 

 crippled by work when a youngster. A ten-year-old 

 horse, sound and healthy, is the most reliable for a carter. 

 Age does not determine everything, as the majority of 

 people seem to think. I have seen good horses over 

 twelve years, horses that have won races and jumping 

 competitions ; in fact, a well-matured horse, to my 

 thinking, is more suited for his work than a young horse. 



My old trotting stallion, George Hummer, was thirty 

 when he died, and only two weeks prior to his death he 

 had kept company with a few good-class Welsh cobs on 

 the London road. Yes, even in his old days it took a 

 very fast horse to pass him. 



Records of life are always interesting to the true 

 lover of the equine animal. A ten-hand Shetland pony 



