THE TEETH. 145 



There are various opinions as to the intervals between the disappearance 

 of the marks from the different cutting teeth. Some have averaged it at 

 two years, and others at one. We are inclined to adopt the latter opinion, 

 and then the age would be thus determined : at nine years the mark will 

 be worn from the middle nippers — from the next pair at ten, and from all 

 the upper nippers at eleven. During these periods the tush is likewise 

 undergoing a manifest change : it is blunter, shorter, and rounder. In 

 what degree this takes place in the different periods, long and most favour- 

 able opportunities for observation can alone enable the horseman to decide, 

 or rather we believe that the tush alone will not enable us to form a very 

 accurate judgment. 



The tushes are exposed to but little tear and wear. The friction against 

 them must be slight, proceeding only from the passage of the food by 

 them, and from the motion of the tongue, or from the bit; and their altera- 

 tion of form, although generally as we have described them, is frequently 

 uncertain. The tush will sometimes be blunt at eight, and remain pointed 

 at eighteen ; and occasionally, according to the direction which they take, 

 or degree in which they rub against each other, the tushes on the different 

 sides will present an apparent variation of one or two years. The upper 

 tush, although the latest in appearing, is soonest worn away. 



Are there any circumstances to guide our judgment after this ? There are 

 those which will prepare us to guess at the age of the horse, or to approach 

 within a few years of it, until he becomes very old : but there are none 

 which will enable us accurately to determine ; and the indications of age 

 must now be taken from the shape of the upper surface of the nippers. 

 At eight, they are all oval, the length of the oval running across from tooth 

 to tooth : but as the horse gets older, the teeth diminish in size, and they 

 at first diminish in width, and not in thickness. They become a little 

 apart from each other, and their surfaces are rounded. At nine, the centre 

 nippers are evidently so, — at ten, the others begin to have the oval shor- 

 tened. At eleven, the second pair of nippers are quite rounded, and at 

 thirteen, the corner ones have that appearance. At fourteen, the faces of 

 the central nippers become somewhat triangular. At seventeen, they are all 

 so. At nineteen, the angles begin to wear off, and the central teeth are 

 again oval, but in a reversed direction, viz. from outward, inward ; and at 

 twenty-one, they all wear this form. This is the opinion of some conti- 

 nental veterinary surgeons, and Mr. Percival first presented them to us in 

 an English dress. We believe the statement is correct to a very con- 

 siderable extent, but we leave our readers to form their own judgment. 



It would be folly indeed to expect accuracy at this advanced age of the 

 horse, when we are bound to confess, that the rules we have laid down for 

 determining this matter at an earlier period, although they are recognised 

 by horsemen generally, and referred to in courts of justice, will not guide 

 us in every case. Stabled horses have the mark sooner worn out than 

 those that are at grass, and a crib-biter may deceive the best judge by one 

 or two years. The age of the horse, likewise, being uniformly calculated 

 from the 1st of May, it is sometimes exceedingly difficult, or almost im- 

 possible, about that time, to determine whether the animal be a late foal of 

 one year, or an early one of the next. At nine or ten, the bars of the 

 mouth become less prominent, and their regular diminution will designate 

 increasing age. At eleven or twelve, the lower nippers change their ori- 

 ginal upright direction, and project forward or horizontally; and they 

 become yellow and covered with tartar. They are yellow, because the 

 teeth must grow to answer to the wear and tear of them j but the enamel 



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