HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 3 



beginning of June; but her chief ardour for the 

 Horse continues only fifteen or twenty days. She 

 goes with young eleven months and some days; 

 continues to breed till the age of sixteen or 

 eighteen years; and lives, on an average, between 

 twenty and thirty years. 



Although the Horse is endowed with vast 

 strength and powers, he seldom exerts either to 

 the prejudice of his master : on the contrary, he 

 shares with him in his labours, and seems to par- 

 ticipate in his pleasures : generous and persever- 

 ing, he gives up his whole powers to the service 

 of his master ; though bold and intrepid, he re- 

 presses the natural vivacity and fire of his temper, 

 and not only yields to the hand, but seems to con- 

 sult the inclination of his rider. 



But it must continue to be matter of regret to 

 every feeling mind, that these excellent qualities 

 should be often shamefully abused in the most un- 

 necessary exertions ; and the honest labours of this 

 noble animal thrown away in the ungrateful task 

 of accomplishing the purposes of unfeeling folly, 

 or lavished in gratifying the expectations of an in- 

 temperate moment. 



first eight: and it is from these last four corner teeth, that the age of 

 a Horse is distinguished: they are somewhat hollow in the middle, 

 and have a black mark in the cavities. At five. years, these teeth 

 scarcely rise above the gums; at six their cavities begin to fill up, and 

 turn to a brownish spot, like the eye of a garden bean ; and before 

 eight years, the mark generally disappears. The tusks also indicate 

 the age of a Horse. Those in the under jaw generally shoot at the 

 age of three years and a half; and the two in the upper jaw at four: 

 till six, they continue sharp at the points; but at ten they appear 

 long and blunted. These are the general rules for ascertaining the 

 age of a Horse; but there are frequent exceptions, as some Horses 

 retain the mark two or three years longer. 



