AGE BY KEGISTKY. ' 73 



even to his own satisfaction, mucli less to that of others, that 

 such animal niaj not be twelve, fourteen, or sixteen instead of 

 ten ; although he might feel well satisfied that the horse de- 

 scribed as ten may be, and almost surely is, nearer to the more 

 advanced term. Yet even in this opinion he is liable, for the 

 causes above given, though less liable than in the other, to be 

 mistaken. 



The moral of all this amounts simply to saying, that if one 

 choose to buy a horse past mark of mouth, one must do so on 

 his own judgment and at his own risk ; for to credit any asser- 

 tions, or to give ear to any veterinarian opinion on the subject, 

 is mere folly. 



These remarks do not of course apply to horses which have 

 run for public stakes under established names, or to the regis- 

 tered and recorded stock of thorouglibred dam and sire. Their 

 ages being ascertainable by the stud books and turf registers, 

 the question is reduced to one of identity, and that, established, 

 we are surer of the horse's age, than of our own by parish 

 record. 



