AGE OF ANIMALS. 



AGE OF ANIMALS. 



rather in the spring before he is five, the cor- 

 ner teeth begin to appear, and at first but just 

 equal with the gums, being filled with flesh in 

 the middle. The tushes are also by this time 

 grown to a more distinct size, though not very 

 large : they likewise continue rough and sharp 

 on the top and edges. But the corner teeth 

 are now most to be. remarked ; they differ from 

 the middle teeth in being more fleshy on the 

 inside, and the gums generally look rawish 

 upon their first shooting out, whereas the others 

 do not appear discoloured. The middle teeth 

 arrive at their full growth in less than three 

 weeks, but the corner teeth grow leisurely, 

 and are seldom much above the gums till a 

 horse is full five ; they differ also from the 

 other fore-teeth in this, that they somewhat re- 

 semble a shell ; and thence are called the shell- 

 teeth, because they environ the flesh in the 

 middle half-way round ; and as they grow, the 

 flesh within disappears, leaving a distinct 

 hollowness and openness on the inside. When 

 a horse is full five, the teeth are generally 

 about the thickness of a crown-piece above 

 the gums. From five to five and a half they 

 will grow about a quarter of an inch high, or 

 more : and when a horse is full six, they will 

 be near half an inch, and in some large horses 

 a full half-inch above the gums. 



The corner teeth in the upper jaw fall out 

 "before those in the under, so that the upper 

 corner teeth are seen before those below ; on 

 the contrary, the tushes in the under gums 

 came out before those in the upper. 



When a horse is full six years old, the hol- 

 lowness on the inside begins visibly to fill up, 

 and that which was at first fleshy grows into a 

 brownish spot, not unlike the eye of a dried 

 garden-bean, and continues so till he is seven ; 

 with this difference only, that the teeth are 

 gradually more filled up, and the marks, or 

 spots, become fainter, and of a lighter colour. 

 At eight, the mark in most horses is quite worn 

 out, though some retain the vestiges of it a 

 longer time ; and those who have not had a 

 good deal of experience may sometimes be 

 deceived by taking a horse of nine or ten years 

 old for one of eight. It is at this time only, 

 when a horse is past mark, that one can easily 

 err in knowing his age ; such practices are used 

 to make a very young horse or colt appear older 

 than he really is, by pulling out the foal-teeth 

 before their time, which may be discovered by 

 feeling along the edges where the tushes grow, 

 for they may be felt in the gums before the 

 corner teeth are put forth ; whereas, if the cor- 

 ner teeth come in some months before the 

 tushes rise in the gums, we may reasonably 

 suspect that the foal-teeth have been pulled out 

 at three years old. 



It is not necessary to mention the tricks that 

 are used to make a false mark in a horse's 

 mouth, by hollowing the tooth with a graver, 

 and burning a mark with a small hot iron ; be- 

 cau*| those who are acquainted with the true 

 mar\jp will easily discover the cheat by the 

 size and colour of the teeth, by the roundness 

 and bluntness of the tushes, by the colour of 

 the false mark, which is generally blacker and 

 more impressed than the true mark, and b.v 

 30 



other circumstances which denote the ad- 

 vanced age of horses. 



After the horse has passed his eighth year, 

 and sometimes at seven, nothing certain can 

 be known by the mouth. It must, however, 

 be remembered, that some horses have but in- 

 different mouths when they are young, and 

 soon loose their mark ; others have their 

 mouths good for a long time, their teeth 

 being white, even, and regular till they are 

 sixteen years old and upwards, together with 

 many other marks of freshness and vigour ; 

 but when a horse comes to be very old, it 

 may be discovered by several indications, the 

 constant attendants of age ; such as his gums 

 wearing away insensibly, leaving his teeth 

 long and naked at their roots ; the teeth also 

 growing yellow, and sometimes brownish. The 

 bars of the mouth, which in a young horse 

 are always fleshy, and form so many distinct 

 ridges, are in an old horse, lean, dry, and 

 smooth, with little or no rising. The eye-pita 

 in a young horse are generally filled up with 

 flesh, look plump and smooth ; whereas, in an 

 old one, they are sunk and hollow, and make 

 him look ghastly. There are also other marks 

 which discover a horse to be very old, as gray 

 horses turning white, and many of them being 

 all over flea-bitten, except their joints. This, 

 however, happens sometimes later, and some- 

 times sooner, according to the variety of colour 

 and constitution. Black horses are apt to 

 grow gray over their eyebrows, and very often 



