10 Dentition as indicative of the Age 



operation %Yliicli is dignified by the term " Bislioping," from the 

 name of its inventor, is too laborious to be often performed. 

 Indeed, it may be allowed that the tricks which are played with 

 horses' mouths are not so frequent or so successful as to con- 

 stitute an important element in the question of the value of the 

 evidence of age which is afforded by the teeth. 



It is customary to calculate the ages of all thoroughbreds 

 from January 1, and of other horses from May 1. The terms 

 " off" and " coming" are employed with the understanding that 

 they mean the addition to or subtraction from the stated age of 

 a few months. Thus " three years off " means three years and 

 about three months; and " coming four years" means that the 

 horse wants about three months to complete the year. It is not 

 essential that the examiner should conform to usage in respect 

 of the terms above mentioned, unless he thinks fit to accept them ; 

 nor is he compelled to insist that the year shall be completed in 

 all cases on the 1st of January or May. The statement of the 

 opinion of a horse's age will be made absolutely, and without 

 any reference to an arbitrary standard, which nevertheless may, 

 for ordinary purposes, have a certain amount of convenience. 



In reference to horses which are exhibited in different classes 

 at Shows, a question has more than once arisen as to the precise 

 meaning or intention of the terms applying to the class, and 

 the question has not yet been answered in a satisfactory manner. 

 For example, an animal entered in the four-year-old class has 

 a condition of dentition which indicates that he is nearly five 

 years old. This may be admitted by the exhibitor, but he also 

 contends that the horse is a four-year-old until he has reached 

 his fifth birthday. If this plea be allowed, it is obvious that a 

 horse foaled in the beginning of the year may have to compete 

 with one which was foaled late in the same year. 



Evidence of the Age of the Horse dures'^g Temporary 

 AXD Permanent Dentition, 



At hirtJi the foal has the two central temporary incisors 

 somewhat laterally placed, in consequence of the jaw not being 

 wide enough to accommodate them both in front. The teeth are 

 nearly covered by the gum, and only a small portion of the 

 upper anterior edges is to be seen. In some cases the extreme 

 corners of the lateral incisors are to be detected in outline under 

 the gum. The three temporary molars are. usually under the 

 gum at the time of birth. The state of the incisors at birth is 

 shown in the following drawing (Fig. 3), which was taken, on 



