66 



THE HOKSK. 



Earrow portion of the cone-shaped tooth is exposed by the at- 

 trition, and they look as if they had been compressed, but it is 

 not so. Kot only will the mark be wearing out, but the crowns 

 of the teeth will be sensibly smaller. 



" At three years and a half, or between that and four, the 

 next pair of nippers will be changed, and the mouth at that time 

 cannot be mistaken. The central nippers will have attained 

 nearly their full growth. A vacuity will be left where the se- 

 cond stood, or they will begin to peep above the gum, and the 

 corner ones will be diminished in breadth, worn down, and the 

 mark becoming small and faint. At this period, likewise, the 

 second pair of grinders will be shed. Previously to this may 

 be the attempt of the dealer to give to his three-year-old an ad- 

 ditional year, but the fraud will be detected by an examination 

 similar to that which has been already described. 



" At four years, the central nippers will be fully developed ; 

 the sharp edge somewhat worn off, and the mark shorter, wider, 

 fainter. Tlie next pair will be up, but they will be small, with the 

 mark deep and extending quite across them, as in fig. 7. Tlie 

 Fig. T. corner nippers will be larger than 



the inside ones, yet smaller than 

 they were, and flat, and the mark 

 nearly eifaced. The sixth grind- 

 ers will have risen to a level 

 with the others, and the tushes 

 will begin to appear. 

 (ii''l ^^ \ /fiW " -^*^^^' moYQ than at any other 



^^ ''■ ^^ ' ^' time, will the dealer be anxious 



to put an additional year on the 

 animal, for the difference between 

 a four-year-old colt and a five-year-old horse, in strength, utility 

 and value, is very great ; but the want of wear in the other nip- 

 pers, the small size of the corner ones, the little growth of the 

 tush, the smallness of the second grinder, the low forehand, the 

 legginess of the colt, and the thickness and little depth of the 

 mouth, will, to the man of common experience among horses, 

 at once detect the cheat. 



"Tlie tushes are four in number, two in each jaw, situated 

 between the nippers and the grinders, much nearer to the former 



