CARE OF HORSES' TEETH 

 Dr. C. W. Brodhead, Montrose, Pa., 



Farmers' Institute Lecturer 



The science of horse dentistry has been sadly neglected m the 

 rural districts, and by that lack of knowledge on the part of horse 

 owners mnch of the usefulness of the horse is lost. 



Xenophon said more than 2,000 years ago, " 'No foot, no horse,'' 

 and at this time I will add, " No tooth, no horse." After forty 

 years of shoeing horses and thirty-six years of caring for the teeth, 

 having in that time been a close observer and investigator, I can 

 safely say that 25 per cent of the economy of the horse is lost in 

 this country by neglecting these two members of the body ; and it is 

 my design to try to give some points that may lead to the better 

 care of the teeth on the part of horse owners. 



I often hear this remark : " Why, my father always kept 

 horses and he never gave any thought to the care of their teeth." 

 That may be true, but many a horse's days have been shortened 

 by not having such attention. In fact, until the last few years no 

 one was qualified to do anything to horses' teeth ; dentistry was 

 one of the last branches of veterinary science taken up by Ameri- 

 can colleges. 



Originally, the horse's teeth were perfectly fitted for grazing 

 and grinding, but man has changed the food from soft, tender, 

 juicy grasses to hard, dry, woody, fibrous food, which taxes the 

 teeth more than soft food. 



There have been many fakes handed down from time to time 

 by " boss men " which many people think are true and do not 



stop to consider how inconsistent they may be such as telling the 



exact age of a horse by his teeth, wolf teeth causing blindness, and 

 many other things I might mention. 



The mare has only thirty-six teeth, as she is minus the canine 

 tushes or bridle teeth, as they are generally called. The male or 



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