626 



THE PEOPLE'S FARM AXD STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



the second pair is worn flat, the mark not so faint; the corner 

 teeth are flat and mark clear. If colts are reared on hay and 

 grain, the teeth wear down much faster than when grass alone 

 is fed. At two and a half years the colt teeth begin to shed, 

 as shown in Fig. 5. 



Before going to an examination of the permanent teeth, let 

 us notice that the foal is born with two grinders in each jaw, 

 above and below, or they appear the first week. Within one 

 month they are succeeded by a third, next back of them. By 



FIG. 5. TWO-AND-A-HAI.K-YEAU-OLD MOTTTH. 



the end of the first year a fourth grinder usually appears in each 

 jaw. The fifth grinder shows at two years. But as the grinders 

 are difficult to see, we will confine our investigation to the front 

 teeth. By the third year the mouth has become so large that 

 the colt teeth do not fill the space. Now nature has provided 

 for this, and the permanent teeth are formed below and are be- 

 ginning to absorb the roots of the colt teeth, preparatory to 

 their easy falling out. The permanent teeth sometimes push up 

 beside the colt teeth and show themselves too soon, and then 

 are called wolfs teeth. Now, as the teeth are beginning to 

 change in form, let us attend to that more particularly before 

 passing to the three-year-old mouth. 



A nipper is undergoing constant change in form from birth 

 to old age. The wear of the teeth calls for a corresponding 

 growth, but in fact, the growth of the tooth is more rapid than 

 the wear. Consequently we find the teeth becoming incon- 

 veniently long by the time the horse has reached his twentieth 



