14 THE NEW POCKET FARRrEE. 



his nostrils be strait, his wind is then little. Should you 

 find the muzzle to be gross, his spirit will be dull. 

 Nothing contributes more to a horse's breathing easy, 

 and with freedom, than the wideness of his nostrils. 



THE MOUTH. 



If a horse's mouth be shallow he will never carry the 

 bitt well, and if his upper will not reach his under lip, 

 old age and infirmity mark him for carrion. When the 

 mouth is cloven too much, there is a good deal of 

 difficulty to bitt a horse so that he may not " swallow it," 

 as horsemen term it. The compliance and obedience 

 of a horse in the manege, is owing, in a great measure, 

 to the tender, or quick sense of his mouth, which ren- 

 ders him fearful of being hurt by the bitt. A horse 

 that has a very fine mouth will stop if his rider merely 

 bends his body backward and raise his hand, without 

 waiting for the check of the bridle. 



AGE. 



Respecting the age of a horse that is fit for work, he 

 should have forty teeth ; twenty -four grinders, which 

 teach us nothing, and sixteen others, which have their 

 names, and discover his age. As mares usually have 

 no tusks, their teeth are only thirty-six. A colt is 

 foaled without teeth ; in a few days he puts out four, 

 which are called pincers, or nippers ; soon after appear 

 the four separators : Next to the pincers, it is sometimes 

 three or four months before the next, called corner teeth, 

 push forth. These twelve colt's teeth, in the front of 

 the mouth, continue, without alteration, till the colt is 



