40 THE NEW PO* ^ET FARRIER, 



In the purchase of a horse, examine four things, his 

 teeth, his eyes, his legs and his wind. 



TO KNOW HIS AGE. 



Every treatise on farriery has instructed us to know 

 a horse's age, by the mark in his mouth ; but not one 

 in five hundred (a dealer excepted) can retain it in his 

 mind. Let this then be sufficient : with your finger and 

 thumb, raise his upper lip, and if his teeth shut close, 

 you may suppose him young ; but if they point forward, 

 and the upper and under edges do not meet even, you may 

 suspect he is old. And the longer his teeth are, (the 

 gums being dry and shrunk from them, looking yellow 

 and rusty) the older he is. 



There are some exceptions to the above rule, but by 

 a due attention you will seldom be deceived. 



You may indeed examine his tush, and if it be pointed 

 and grooved, that is, hollovvish on the inside, he cannot 

 be judged to be above seven years old. Crafty jockeys 

 will sometimes burn holes in the teeth, to make them 

 appear young, which they call bishoping, but a discern- 

 ing eye will soon discover the cheat. Mares have no 

 tushes, so that it is more difficult to know their age, but 

 if the roof of the mouth be fleshy, and almost as proud 

 as the teeth, she is young. 



EYES. 



If a horse's eyes are lively and clear, and you can 

 see to the bottom, and the image of your face be 

 reflected from thence, and not from the surface of the 

 eye, they are good ; but if muddy, cloudy or coal black, 

 they are bad. 



