932 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



place to the permanent ones: at three and a half the middle nippers are likewise removed, 

 at which period the second milk-molar falls : at four years, the horse is found with six 

 molar teeth, five of his new set, and one of his last: at four years and a half the corner 

 nippers of the colt fall and give place to the permanent set (fig. 629 e), and the last tem- 

 poraneous grinder disappears : at five years old the tushes in the horse usually appear : 

 at five and a half they are completely out, and the internal wall of the upper nippers, 

 which before was incompletely formed, is now on a level with the rest ; at this period 

 the incisive or nippers have all of them a cavity formed in the substance between the 

 inner and outer walls, [Jig. 629 f) and it is the disappearance of this that marks the 

 age : at six years those in the front nippers below are filled up, {Jig. 630 e) the 

 tushes are likewise slightly blunted : at seven years the mark or cavity in the middle 

 nippers is filled up, and the tushes a little more worn (fig, 630/ ) : at eight years old 

 the corner nippers are likewise plain, and the tushes are round and shortened. (Jig. 620 g) 

 In mares, the incisive or nippers alone present a criterion (Jig. 630 a) ; at this period 

 the horse is said to be aged, and to have lost his mark ; but among good judges the 

 teeth still exhibit sufficient indications. At nine the groove in the tushes is worn away 

 nearly, and the nippers become rather rounded: at ten these appearances are still 

 stronger : at twelve the tushes only exhibit a rounded stump, the nippers push forward, 

 become yellow, and as the age advances, appear triangular and usually uneven. 



5957. M. St. Bel, the late professor of the English Veterinary College, used to assert, that after eight 

 years the cavities in the anterior or upper incisive teeth, are filled up with equal regularity; thus from 

 eight to ten the front ones were filled up, from ten to twelve the two middle, and from twelve to fourteen 

 those of the corner ; but though some pains have been taken to ascertain this, it does not appear that 

 the disappearance of the cavities in these teeth is attended with sufficient regularity to warrant complicit 

 confidence. 



5958. To make a colt appear older than he really is, both breeders and dealers very commonly draw the 

 nippers, particularly the corner ones ; by which means the permanent set which are underneath imme- 

 diately appear, and the animal is thus fitted for sale before he otherwise would be. 



5959. To make a horse look younger than he really is, dealers perform an operation on the teeth called 

 bishopping(from the name of a noted operator) ; which consists in makiVig an artificial cavity in the nippers, 

 after the natural one has been worn out by age, by means of a hard sharp tool ; which cavity is then burned 

 black by a heated instrument. But no art can restore the tushes to their form and height, as well as their in- 

 ternal grooves. It is, therefore, common to see the best judges thrust their finger into a horse's mouth, con- 

 tenting themselves with merely feeling the tush. To less experienced judges other appearances present them- 

 selves as aids. Horses, when aged, usually become hollow above the eyes, the hoofs appear rugged, the under 

 lip falls, and if grey, they become white. In this country, where horses are so early worked before the 

 frame is consolidated, and where afterwards they continue to be exerted unceasingly on hard roads, it is 

 not uncommon to find a horse at six years old, feeble, debilitated, and exhibiting all the marks of old age, 

 except in his mouth ; on the contrary, when the animal falls into other hands, at ten or twelve he has 

 all the vigor of youth, and his teeth are the only parts that present an indication of age : it is, there- 

 fore, more useful to examine the general appearance of the animal, than to be guided altogether by the 

 marks in the teeth ; a too strict adherence to which, Blaine observes, leads into great error on the sub- 

 ject of the age of horses. The commonly received marks, he says, grant not a criterion of a third of the 

 natural life of the animal, nor of one half of the time in which he is perfectly useful. Many good 

 judges will not purchase a horse for hunting earlier than eight years old, and regard him only in his prime 

 at twelve. A gentleman at Dulwich has a monument to the memory of each of three several horses, 

 which died in his possession at the age of thirty-five, thirty-seven, and thirty-nine years; the latter of 

 which was suddenly taHen off by a fit of colic, having been in harness but a few hours before. CuUey 

 mentions a horse of forty-five ; and an instance lately occurred of one which lived to fifty. Blaine, in 

 continuation, draws the following comparison between the relative situations of the state of the constitu- 

 tion, between the horse and man, under the ordinary circumstances of care towards each. The first five 

 years of the horse, may be considered as equivalent to the first twenty of a man ; a horse of ten as a man 

 of forty ; of fifteen as a man of fifty ; of twenty as a man of sixty ; of twenty. five as a man of seventy ; 

 of thirty as a man of eighty ; and of thirty-five as a man of ninety. ( Vet. Outlines, p. 35.) 



Sect. X. Of Breeding Horses. 



5960. The general principles of breeding we have already laid down at length, (1994.), 

 and have here to notice what are considered the best practices in the choice of stallicns 

 and mares, and in the treatment of the latter during pregnancy. Unfortunately, how- 

 ever, much less attention has been paid to breeding horses, than to breeding cattle or 

 sheep ; though, as Brown has observed, a pound of horse flesh is worth two of that of 

 any other stock ; and it costs just as much to breed a bad horse as a good one- Every 

 one, an eminent writer observes, exercises some degree of judgment in regard to the 

 stallion ; but there are few breeders, comparatively, who hesitate to employ very ill- 

 formed and worthless mares, and often Solely because they are unfit for any thing else 

 than bringing a foal. All the best writers on agriculture reprobate this absurd and un- 

 profitable practice. *' In the midland counties of England, the breeding of cart horses 

 is attended to with the same assiduity as that which has of late years been bestowed on 

 cattle and sheep ; while the breeding of saddle horses, hunters, and coach horses is' 

 almost entirely neglected ; or left almost wholly to chance, even in Yorkshire, I mean 

 as to females. A breeder here would not give five guineas for the best brood mare in 

 the kingdom, unless she could draw or carry him occasionally to market ; nor a guinea 

 extraordinary for one which could do both. He would sooner breed from a rip, 

 which he happens to have upon his premises, though not worth a month's keep. But how 

 absurd ! The price of the leap, the keep of the mare, and the care and keep of her 

 progeny, from the time they drop to the time of sale, are the same, whether they be 



