12i TREATMENT OF DISEASES TECULIAR TO HORSES. 



AGE OF HORSES. 



The age of a horse may be known by marks in the front teeth and 

 tusks 'of the under jaw, until he is about eight years old, after which 

 period it is a matter of guess-work ; yet those who are experts can 

 tell very near the exact age. There are many circumstances which 

 tend to show whether a horse be old or not. The number of a 

 horse's teeth is forty — twenty-four grinders, and sixteen others — by 

 some of which his age may be known up to a certain period. Mares 

 have only thirty-six teeth, as in them the tushes are usually wanting. 

 A few days after birth, the colt puts forth two small front teeth in 

 the upper and under jaws, and soon after two more ; these are called 

 nippers. The next four shortly afterwards make their appearance. 

 The four corner teeth — as they are termed — come a few months after 

 the last named. These twelve teetUin the front of the mouth are 

 small and white, and continue without much alteration until the colt 

 is about two years and a half old, when he begins to shed them. 

 The two teeth that first make their appearance are the first that are 

 lost, and are replaced by two others, called horse's teeth, considera- 

 bly stronger and larger than those that have made way for them. 

 Between the third and foui-th year, the two teeth next the first fall 

 out, and are in like manner replaced by horse's teeth. Between the 

 fourth and fifth year, the corner teeth are changed ; the tushes make 

 their appearance. About the fifth year, the horse is said to have a 

 full mouth. After this period, up to the eighth year, the age of a 

 horse can, with some degree of certainty, be known by the cavities 

 in the teeth, which at first are deep, but are gradually, by the pro- 

 cess of mastication, worn down, and about the eighth year disappear. 

 After the fifth year, the above criterion of age may be corroborated 

 by the grooves in the tushes of the male, which are inside ; they are 

 two in number. At six, one of these cavities, viz., the one next the* 

 grinder, disappears ; at seven, the other is considerably diminished ; 

 at eight, is almost, but not always, entirely gone. After this period, 

 the tushes become more blunt and round. The marks in the upper 

 teeth are by some considered indicative of the horse's age ; those in 

 the two front teeth disappearing at eight, in the two next at ten, and 

 in the corner teeth at twelve. The marks in the lower teeth will 

 disappear about the eighth year. 



As a horse grows old, he generally turns more or less gray ; the 

 cavities above the eyes become deeper ; the under lip falls ; the gums 

 shrink away from the teeth, giving them the appearance of a greater 

 length ; the back becomes hollow, or curved. 



