PAOES: THEY DISCLOSE LAMENESa 305 



{a^T ifo not fill up so fast by two years ; so that a tolerably shrewil jruess ai the 

 age of a horse may be fornieil until it is twelve. The marks in the two front 

 teeth of the upper jr. w are not obliterated until eight years old, and the next 

 two become smooth only at the tenth year of its age ; being each two years 

 later than happens to the corresponding teeth of the lower jaw ; whilst the 

 two corner teeth above do not lose their marks until the twelfth year. 



The tushes of old horses, then, have neither curve nor groove; they wear 

 away at the points as if they had been broken off and pohshed again ; tne 

 corner teeth appear long anil leaning forward ; the upper teeth project over the 

 lower, and all lose their oblong shape, whilst the the gum recedes and leaves 

 their roots bare, st) that the teeth seem as if grown longei. When the teeth 

 do not so meet evenly, certain dealers file away the projecting teeth ; for this 

 denotation of oUl age, which may be attributed to a strong mouth, sometimes 

 happens prematurely without any other corresponding sign. In two or three 

 other respects we notice similar deviations from the general rule, that none 

 know how to account for, unless it be that such animals were got by old 

 parents, when the hollowness over the eyes will be found to disfigure young 

 colts of the most tender age. Some, again, lose the mark in all their teeth ex- 

 cept the corners, as early as five years old ; others have hard mouths and the 

 bars almost callous; but all these have the hollow just spoken of. This de- 

 fect dealers endeavour to rectify by puncturing the skin and blowing it up. 

 On the other hand, some horses are so strong in the mouth, or rather healthy 

 that the marks of five years old are retained by them until six or seven. 



Extreme old age may be flirther ascertained by the mouth, with moderate 

 accuracy. Up to ten or eleven years old, the teeth generally retain their ob- 

 long figure and touch each other. From this period the teeth contract in size, 

 become roundish, and leave a small space between them; which space in- 

 creases up to the fourteenth or fifteenth year, when each tooth assumes an 

 angular shape, and projects forward, irregularly. In another year or two the 

 under lip hangs down, the jaw becomes neaped and contracted, the gum re- 

 cedes considerably from the roots, and the shape of the teeth is then of an ob- 

 long, but directly contrary to the first. 



Moreover, the eyes of a horse approaching twenty years wax yellowish, he 

 winks much, and the inner skin of his mouth turns outward. If naturally of 

 a gray or roan colour, the darker spots turn rusty, and he is then what they 

 term "flea bitten:" gradually he turns gray, beginning with the head anii 

 fijiishing with the legs. 



LAMENESS 



Is not easy of detection, when the horse comes from the hands of a dea.er; 

 who of course makes the best of him, and endeavours to inveigle our judg- 

 ment, and to throw obstacles in the way of examination. Perhaps, when a 

 horse walks (peerly, or unaccountably odd, this should be sufficient cause for 

 rejection; but if he suits tlie purchaser's purpose in other respects, we are 

 usually induced to look at him a little further, and this is the reason that the 

 seller always puts his tit upon the pace he can i)erform best, commonly the 

 gallop. All paces are natural ones, exce[)t backing and cantering, and are 

 all modifications of the walk, trot, and gallop. 'I'he walk is made in four 

 equal steps ; the trot in two, and the gallop likewise in two, except at setting 

 oiF. When the steps are not made in equal time, then is the horse lame. Tills 

 is observable when he walks, is more apparent when he trots, but is scarcely 

 perceptible when he gallops: therefore to judge whether a horse be lame or 

 not, he should be put upon the short trot, because at the long trot it is ni.ire 

 :iifficult to be discovered by -*eeing him go, than by hearing tJie unference if 



