Book VII. BREEDING OF HORSES. 997 



{Jig. 844. e), and the last temporaneous grinder disappears : at five years old the tushes in the horse usually 

 appear : at five and a half they are completely out, and the internal wall of the upper nippers, which 



845 



e r^- r\9 



before was incompletely formed, is now on a level with the rest; at this period the incisive or nippers 

 have all of them a cavity formed in the substance between the inner and outer walls (Jig. 844./), and it is 

 the disappearance of this that marks the age : at six years those in the front nippers below are filled up 

 (fig. 845. e), the tushes are likewise slightly blunted : at seven years the mark or cavity in the middle 

 nippers is filled up, and the tushes a little more worn (fig. 845./) : at eight years old the corner nippers 

 are likewise plain, and the tushes are round and shortened (fig. 845. g). In mares, the incisive or nippers 

 alone present a criterion {fig. 845. a) ; at this period the horse is said to be aged, and to have lost his 

 mark j but among good judges the teeth still exhibit sufficient indications. At nine the groove in the 

 tushes in worn away nearly, and the nippers become rather rounded : at ten these appearances are still 

 stronger : at twelve the tushes only exhibit a rounded stump, the nippers push forward, become yellow, 

 fUid as the age advances, appear triangular and usually uneven. 



6f>26. 3/. St. Bel, the late professor of the English Veterinary College, used to assert, that after eight 

 years the cavities in the anterior or upper incisive teeth are filled up with equal regularity; thus from 

 pight to ten the front ones were filled up, from ten to twelve the two middle, and from twelve to fourteen 

 ihose of the corner ; but though some pains have been taken to ascertain this, it does not appear that 

 the disappearance of the cavities in these teeth is attended with sufficient regularity to warrant implicit 

 confidence. 



6627, To maliC a colt appear older than he really is, both breeders and dealers very commonly draw the 

 nippers, particularly the corner ones ; by which means the permanent set which are underneath immct 

 diately appear, and the animal is thus fitted for sale before he otherwise would be. 



6028. To make a horse look younger than he really is, dealers perform an operation on the teeth called 

 bishcpping (from the name of a noted operator) ; which consists in making an artificial cavity in the nip- 

 pers, after the natural one has been worn out by age, by means of a hard sharp tool ; which cavity is then 

 burned black by a heated instrument. But no art can restore the tushes to their form and height, as well 

 as their internal grooves. It is, therefore, common to see the best judges thrust their finger into a horse's 

 mouth, contenting themselves with merely feeling the tush. To less experienced judges other appear- 

 ances present themselves as aids. Horses, when aged, usually become hollow above the eyes, the hoofs 

 appear rugged, the under lip falls, and if grey, they become white. In this country, where horses are so 

 early worked before the frame is consolidated, and where afterwards they continue to be exerted unceas- 

 ingly on hard roads, it is not uncommon to find a horse at six years old feeble, debilitated, and exhibiting 

 all the marks of old age, except in his mouth ; on the contrary, when the animal falls into otlier hands, at 

 ten or twelve he has all the vigour of youth, and his teeth are the only parts that present an indication 

 of age : it is, therefore, more useful to examine the general appearance of the animal, than to be guided 

 altogether by the marks in the teeth ; a too strict adherence to which, Blaine observes, lead into great 

 error on the subject of the age of horses. The commonly received marks, he says, grant not a criterion 

 of a third of the natural life of the animal, nor of one half of the time in which he is perfectly useful. 

 Many good judges will not purchase a horse for hunting earlier than eight years old, and regard him only 

 in his prime at twelve. A gentleman at Dulwich has a monument to the memory of each of three seve- 

 ral horses which died in his possession at the age of thirty-five, thirty-seven, and thirty-nine years ; the 

 latter of which was suddenly taken off by a fit of colic, having been in harness but a few hours before. 

 Culley mentions a horse of forty-five ; and an instance lately occurred of one which lived to fifty. Blaine, 

 in continuation, draws the following comparison between the relative situations of the state of Uie consti- 

 tution, between the horse and man, under the ordinary circumstances of care towards each : The first 

 five years of the horse may be considered as equivalent to the first twenty of a man ; a horse of ten as a 

 man of forty ; of fifteen as a man of fifty ; of twenty as a man of sixty ; of twenty-five as a man of 

 seventy ; of thirty as a man of eighty ; and of thirty-five as a man of ninety. . ( Vet. Outlines, p. S5.) 



Sect. X. Breeding of Horses. 



6629. The general principles of breeding we have already laid down at length (2023.), and have here to 

 notice what are considered the best practices in the choice of stallions and mares, and in the treatment 

 of the latter during pregnancj'. Unfortunately, however, much less attention has been paid to breeding 

 horses, than to breeding cattle or sheep; though, as Brown has observed, a pound of horse-flesh is 

 worth two of that of any other stock ; and it costs just as much to breed a bad horse as a good one. Every 

 one, an eminent writer observes, exercises some degree of judgment in regard to the stallion ; but there 

 are few breeders, comparatively, who hesitate to employ very ill-formed and worthless mares, and often 

 solely because they are unfit for any thing else than bringing a foal. All the best writers on agriculture 

 reprobate this absurd and unprofitable practice. " In the midland counties of England, the breeding of 

 cart horses is attended to with the same assiduity as that which has of late years been bestowed on cattle 

 and sheep ; while the breeding of saddle horses, hunters, and coach horses is almost entirely neglected ; 

 or left almost wholly to chance, even in Yorkshire, I mean as to females. A breeder h.ere would not 

 give five guineas for the best brood mare in the kingdom, unless she could draw or carry him occasionally 

 to market ; nor a guinea extraordinary for one which could do both. He would sooner breed from a rip, 

 which he happens to have upon his premises, though not worth a month's keep. But how absurd ! The 

 price of the leap, the keep of the mare, and the care and keep of her progeny, from the time they drop 

 lo the time of sale, are the same, whether they be sold from ten to fifteen, or from forty to fifty pounds 

 each." (Marshal's Economy of Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. 166.) A little consideration will show this error in a 

 still stronger light, when we consider, that united with the characteristic marks common to the breed in 

 general, tiie progeny of two individuals always exhibits traits of resemblance to each; and as the defects 

 are as certainly propagated as the excellencies, so a neglect in being equally careful in our selection of 

 the female as the male parent is actually bespeaking deformity. It being also now and then observed^ 

 that a stronger resemblance is borne to the mother than to the father ; so the chances of a worthless 

 colt are increased. It having likewise been remarked, that every variety has a tendency to breed back 

 towards its original, so "a breed thus constituted can hardly admit of amelioration, but remains stamped 

 by its original erroneous selection. These remarks, it is hoped, will encourage our breeders to be less 

 indifferent to the choice of their breeding mares. 



6630. In those districts ivhere the breeding of horses is carried on upon a large scale and a regular plan, 

 the rearing of stallions forms in some degree a separate branch ; and is confined, as in the case of bulls 



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