THE AGE OF THE HORSE 83 



the land, whilst lameness is much more frequent in the 

 forhier animals. 



The physical signs of old age are chiefly denoted by 

 hollowness in the back and hollows above the eyes, puffy 

 swelling about the joints (the so-called wind-galls), 

 thickening of the tendons, enlargement about the pasterns, 

 along with a wasting of the muscles covering the quarters 

 and buttocks, the mark in the latter situation often being 

 very pronounced. It is sometimes spoken of as the 

 " poverty mark," though it m^ay be present in horses 

 which are by no means old. It is customary to speak of 

 a horse as being *' aged " after it is eight years old. 



In connection with the dentition of the horse the words 

 '' rising " and ** off " are commonly employed, and imply 

 that the animal is within six months of its conventional 

 birthday, or the converse, when the word " off " is used, 

 meaning that it has passed its birthday by three to six 

 months. Thus, for instance, a horse at three years plus 

 three to six months is three years "off"; when about 

 three years nine months it is usual to speak of the animal as 

 * ' rising ' ' four. Nominally, thoroughbred horses have their 

 birthday dating from January ist, whereas harness and 

 heavy draught horses date from May ist. As previously 

 stated, the teeth referred to for ageing a horse are the 

 incisors, the molars being of secondary importance for 

 this purpose. All horses have two kinds of teeth, viz. 

 temporary or sucking teeth and those which subsequently 

 replace these — the permanent teeth. The temporary 

 teeth consist of 12 incisors, viz. 6 above and 6 below, and 

 12 molars, 3 in each jaw ; so that the temporary teeth 

 number 24, whereas the permanent ones are either 36 

 or 40. In the mare they are 36 and in the male 40. In 

 exceptional instances mares have rudimentary tusks, 

 therefore the female may have 40 teeth. The temporary 

 teeth are different from the permanent ones, being smaller, 

 whiter, and without a well-marked vertical groove on 

 their faces. It is expedient for the amateur to make 



