THE NEW POCKET FARRIER. 15 



two years, or two years and a half old, which makes it 

 difficult, without great care, to avoid being imposed on 

 during the interval, if the seller finds it his interest to 

 make the colt pass for either younger or older than he 

 really is ; the only rule you have then to judge by is his 

 coat, and the hairs of his mane and tail. A colt of 

 one year has a supple, rough coat, resembling that of a 

 water spaniel, and the hair of his mane and tail feels 

 like flax, and hangs like a rope untwisted ; whereas a 

 colt of two years has a flat coat, and straight hairs, like 

 a grown horse. 



At about two years and a half old, sometimes sooner, 

 sometimes later, according as he has been fed, a horse 

 begins to change his teeth. The pincers, which come 

 the first, are also the first that fall ; so that at three years 

 he has four horse's, and eight colt's teeth, which are 

 easily known apart, the former being larger, flatter, and 

 yellower than the other, and streaked from the end quite 

 into the gums. 



These four horse pincers have, in the middle of their 

 extremities, a black hole, very deep ; whereas those of 

 the colt are round and white. When the horse is 

 coming four years old, he loses his four separators, or 

 middle teeth, and puts forth four others, which follow 

 the same rule as the pincers. He has now eight horse's 

 teeth, and four colt's. At five years old he sheds the 

 four corner, which are his last colt's teeth, and is called 

 a horse. 



During this year also, his four tusks (which are 

 chiefly peculiar to horses) come behind the others ; the 

 lower ones often four months before the upper ; but 

 whatever may be vulgarly thought, a horse that has the 

 two lower tusks, if he has not the upper, may be judged 

 to be under five years old, unless the other teeth show 

 the contrary ; for some horses that live to be very old 



