HORSES 



309 



The teeth usually furnish a fairly accurate indication 

 of the age until a horse is ten years old. Horses have two 

 sets of teeth, the first or temporary set and the second 

 or permanent set, similar to the two sets in human beings. 

 There are three pairs of nippers or front teeth on each 

 jaw. These are the ones that indicate the age. The new 

 teeth have deep cups or indentations in their centers. 

 As the teeth are used, they wear down and the cups disap- 

 pear. It takes about three years for a cup to disappear 

 from the nippers of the permanent set of teeth on the 

 lower jaw, and about twice as long on the upper jaw. 



Colt. A colt gets its center nippers at about one week 

 of age. By the time it is a month old, it 

 has all three pairs. The cups in these 

 teeth gradually disappear and are usu- 

 ally gone at about two years. (Fig. 

 148.) At about two years and nine 

 months, the center pair of permanent 



teeth appear. Up to 



this time, the general 



appearance of the colt is usually as 



accurate an indication of its age as 



are the teeth. 



Three Years. At three years, the 



permanent pair of 



center nippers will be 

 up and ready for use. They will have 

 deep cups, and are much larger than the 

 temporary teeth. If the colt is a male, 

 two small tusks will appear at about this 



_ , , _. The lower nippers at 



time. Mares do not have tusks (Fig. 149). four ye* of age 



FIG. 148. 



The lower nippers of a 



colt two years old 



Fio. 140. 



The lower nippers at 

 three years of age 



