Care of Horses' Teeth 185 



stallion has forty teeth. The bridle teeth in most cases show them- 

 selves any time from two and one-half to eight years of age — 

 sometimes in early castrations they may not appear in the gelding ; 

 I have found snch cases. 



The colt begins to shed the milk teeth at the age of two and one- 

 half years, and should have a full mouth at five years, but that 

 is not always the case. I have many times taken out both the 

 corner incisors and the molars at six years old, and I have known 

 that the horse had been badly kept; hence both body and limb 

 had not fully developed, and the teeth were retarded likewise. 



The jaws of the horse are peculiar in their makeup, the under 

 jaw being from one and one-half to two and one half inches 

 narrower than the upper jaw and forming what may be called a 

 convex-and-concave surface, as the long points on the upper jaw 

 are outside, pushing against the cheek, and the long points on the 

 lower jaw are inside, pushing against the tongue. Since the 

 sharp points do not break or wear off, they cut the cheeks and 

 tongue and cause sores. This can be remedied by properly floating 

 the long points off", thus giving the teeth a chance to get a full 

 grinding surface. Often when the colt begins to shed his teeth, 

 the shells or milk teeth will be crowded out by the permanent 

 teeth. Owing to the convex-and-concave surface they are fre- 

 quently crowded against the cheek or tongue, causing the same 

 trouble as the sharp points in older horses. They should be taken 

 out to give the new teeth a chance to come in proper line. 



From many causes, horses will have split or broken teeth, others 

 becoming decayed and hollow. It is necessary to extract such teeth, 

 iind then every year or two the tooth opposite will need to be filed 

 or cut off ; since, if there is nothing to wear against it, it will grow 

 down or up, as the case may be, and wear into the cavity and 

 cause trouble. The teeth on the upper jaw are always growing 

 down and out, while the under teeth are always gi'owing up and 

 out. In the case of a six-year-old the teeth may set in the jaws 

 one and one-half inches, when at twenty they may just hang to 

 the jaw, and at twenty-five many of them may be entirely gone. 



There are many things to be taken into consideration at this 

 point, since some breeds or horses have better teeth than others ; 

 also, horses grazing or being fed on hay that is cut from low sandy 



