98 



NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HORSE. 



be said to be out of the mouth. There is nothing remaining 

 in the bottom nippers that can clearly show the age of the 

 horse, or justify the most experienced examiner in giving a 

 positive opinion. This should be distinctly borne in mind, as 

 it is a very common error in the United States, and one especi- 

 ally insisted on by dealers having old horses to sell, that the 

 age can be positively ascertained even to ten, eleven, or twelve 

 years, so that it can be predicated of a horse that he is so old, 

 and no older. This is an absolute fallacy. It is easy, from 

 many general signs, to see that a horse is above eight years 

 old ; but it is impossible to judge certainly how much older. 

 The length and angularity of the nippers, the depth of the 

 super-orbital cavities, and other points of information, may 

 enable a good judge to guess comparatively, but never to speak 

 surely. 



Dishonest dealers have been said to resort to a method of 

 prolonging the mark on the lower nippers. It is called Bish- 

 oping, from the name of the scoundrel who invented it. The 



horse of eight or nine years 

 old — whose mouth is repre- 

 sented in the accompany- 

 ing cut — is thrown, and 

 with an engraver's tool a 

 hole is dug in the now al- 

 most plain surface of the 

 corner teeth, in shape re- 

 sembling the mark yet left 

 EIGHT OR NINE TEAB8. iu thosc of & scveu-year- 



old horse. The hole is then burned with a heated iron, and 

 a permanent black stain is left. The next pair of nippers is 



