Chapter XIV. 



THE TEETH. 



1. AS A GUIDE TO AGE. 



Although there are other methods of arriving at the 

 age of a horse, the surest is by an examination of the 

 incisors of the lower jaw, the appearance of which 

 undergoes certain changes year by year, so that a 

 moderate amount of experience should enable any in- 

 telligent person to tell how old a horse is, with certainty, 

 up to nine or ten years, after w^iich it is much more 

 difficult. 



For the sake of brevity, I do not propose to deal with 

 the growth and development of the milk teeth and their 

 subsequent gradual replacement by the permanent ones, 

 but will at once proceed to indicate the changes which 

 take place in the latter from the time the last of the 

 milk teeth is cast or shed, which is usually when the 

 animal is about four and a half years old. 



Incidentally it may be remarked that the age of all 

 thoroughbreds is considered to date from the 1st of 

 January, it being the custom among breeders to arrange 

 so that the mares foal as early in that month as possible. 



