146 avery's own farrier. 



in the middle teeth, a little longer in the next, or sepa- 

 rators, and longest in the corner teeth. Between the 

 age of five and six, the four front teeth fill up in the 

 centre, and, instead of the holes above mentioned, have 

 only a black ring. Between the age of six and seven, 

 the four separators fill up in a like manner. And be- 

 tween seven and nine, the corner teeth fill up also; but, 

 generally speaking, the corner teeth present a level sur- 

 face at eight years old. You can not depend on the wear 

 of the teeth as much as a great many have imagined. 

 Something may be known relative to the age of the horse 

 by the tushes, which are sharp on the point, and have 

 two grooves on the inside of them running from the 

 point quite down to the gum. The tushes continue to 

 grow in size until the horse is about eight or nine years 

 old, after which they begin to be more blunt on the point, 

 and smooth on the inside. At the age of ten, these 

 grooves are scarcely discernible by the eye or finger, 

 and at twelve they wholly disappear, when the tush 

 becomes quite round and blunt, and is of no further use 

 for the object in question, except in the wear of them. 

 The front teeth are always broad and thin in a young 

 horse, and grow thicker and narrower with age, until he 

 is twelve years old, when they become as thick as they 

 are broad, at which time they begin to round off and he 

 is said to be in his teens. After he arrives at this age, 

 the teeth wear off quite fast, and by the time he is from 

 fifteen to twenty, the front teeth become entirely round. 

 The gum also (in a young horse), covering the front 

 teeth, has the form of a low arch, and as the teeth round 

 off the gum settles down between them, making the 



