406 A TREATISE ON HORSE-BREEDING. 



At this period the fourth molar, which is a permanent 

 tooth from the first, begins to protrude through the gum, 

 and by the time of the completion of the first year it is level 

 with the temporary molars; but its surface is not worn, and 

 the recent appearance of the tooth is most important as evi- 

 dence of the age of one year. 



Fig. 4 shows the shell-like character of the corner teeth 

 and the state of the tables of the other incisors in the year- 

 ling colt; and it may be remarked that the appearances cor- 

 respond with those of the teeth of the five-year-old horse, 

 the chief difference being that in the yearling the teeth are 

 temporary, and in the five-year-old permanent organs. 



FIG. 2. INCISORS OF FOAL AT TWO MONTHS. 



A practical horseman would perhaps feel amused at the 

 idea of the possibility of a yearling being taken for a five- 

 year-old, or a two-year-old for a six; but in the case of rough 

 forest ponies, in which the aspect of colthood is quickly lost, 

 such mistakes have occurred, and it is therefore not out of 

 place to suggest that care should be taken to discriminate 

 between the temporary incisors, and if necessary to refer to 

 the molar teeth in order to avoid such embarrassing blun- 

 ders. 



Under ordinary circumstances it will be more frequently 

 necessary to distinguish between a yearling and a two-year- 

 old than between one-year-old and five, and it fortunately 



