150 TYPES AND BREEDS 



unusual condition to which the unsoundness is due is not likely ; 

 while in the second case, the predisposing cause is continually 

 operative, and the ultimate development of actual unsoundness 

 is well nigh inevitable. Once developed, its condition is repeat- 

 edly aggravated by the same means which originally induced it. 



Rejecting for Unsoundness. — It is not consistent to reject a 

 horse, in all other respects suitable for one's purpose, because he 

 cannot be certified absolutely sound, only to finally accept on the 

 strength of a certificate of soundness a horse woefully deficient 

 in regard to most other requirements. Counsel of the veterina- 

 rian should be on the true importance of the unsoundness, if it 

 exists, rather than for its mere detection. 



Soundness is but one of the attributes which render a horse 

 of service. Horses unsound in some degree are giving perfectly 

 satisfactory service in all fields in which horses are engaged, and, 

 so long as that is the case, it is unjust to the horses and detri- 

 mental to the owners to discard them for a mere technicality. 

 Provided a horse goes sound in spite of some unsoundness to 

 which he is subject, and promises to continue so to go, the un- 

 soundness should not outweigh in importance the other essentials 

 of a good horse, as type, conformation, and performance. 



Age. — The Determination of Age. — There is nothing mys- 

 terious nor empirical about the determination of the age by tlie 

 teeth. Up to five years, it is simply a matter of the eruption of 

 the teeth, which in the normal individual follows the same reg- 

 ular course that characterizes all other physiological processes. 

 After the permanent teeth are all in, the indications are the 

 result of wear, which is uniformly accomplished in the normal 

 mouth on account of the extreme durability of the individual 

 teeth and their arrangement. 



Certain general features must be understood before any at- 

 tempt is made to differentiate the appearance of the mouth at 

 various years. The permanent teeth may be distinguished, after 

 their eruption, from the milk teeth, which are shed as the perma- 

 nent teeth come through, by greater size, a broader neck showing 

 no constriction, perpendicular, parallel grooves and ridges on 

 their face, and a whiter color. 



The incisor teeth, which are the ones depended upon because 



