68 DRIVING. 



than slippery asphalte or wood pavement. If a horse falls under 

 such circumstances, the groom should at once be directed to run 

 to his head, and, keeping his knee gently pressed against the 

 neck so as to prevent his rising, undo the buckles of the harness, 

 taking care when the weight of the shafts can be taken off him 

 to throw a rug or coat on the place where his forefeet will be 

 *put in the endeavour to rise, so that he may have something 

 which will afford a more secure foothold than the ground which 

 by its slipperiness has caused his fall 



Inasmuch as harness horses should last much longer than 

 hunters, the purchase of a very young horse is never to be re- 

 commended. You will get nearly as many years' work out of a 

 sound seven-year-old as out of a four-year-old, with the advan- 

 tage that the former has got over what may be termed his 

 infantile complaints. Young horses are constantly throwing out 

 splints, being laid up and causing anxiety to their owners, 

 whereas a sound and seasoned six- or seven year-old horse 

 should give his owner but little trouble. 



The age of a horse is principally determined by the teeth. 

 The incisors are six in number when the mouth is complete, 

 and in horses there is in addition a peculiar tooth on each side 

 of the jaw called a ' tusk,' which does not appear till the animal 

 is about four years old, and is not fully developed until the last 

 permanent incisor is up. At the age of four the jaw contains 

 four permanent teeth and one milk tooth on each side ; at five 

 the six permanent incisors are present, though the inner wall 

 of the corner teeth is absent. At six this inner wall has grown 

 up to the level of the outer, and the mouth is complete. In 

 addition to these changes, what is termed the * mark ' serves 

 as a criterion of age. The ' mark ' is a hollow in the centre of 

 the tooth, extending at first about half an inch into the incisor. 

 The whole tooth is covered with a wall of pearly enamel, which 

 penetrates into and lines the ' mark.' At four the mark is plain 

 in all the permanent incisors. At six the mark is wearing out 

 of the two centre teeth, but is plainly visible in the two next, 

 and perfectly fresh in the two corner teeth. At seven the mark 



