72 ON AGE AND APPEARANCE. 



to bo able to examine these wrinkles carefully and accu- 

 rately, that will lead to a correct opinion of the age. Over 

 the lid of the eyes will be found several wrinkles in old 

 horses, few in middle age, and only one in the young horse, 

 (as nature calls for one wrinkle,) and at ten years old you 

 will see two, then you will find for every age over ten, an 

 additional wrinkle up to thirty years old. With practice 

 and care, this method will be found very useful ; if not 

 always exactly correct, it will be so in the majority of 

 cases, and even in doubtful cases it will bring you so near 

 the exact age as to be a sufficient guide. 



Dr. Mason says, that " between nine and ten years of 

 age a horse generally loses the marks of the mouth, 

 though there are a few exceptions, as some horses retain 

 good mouths until they are fourteen or fifteen years old, 

 with their teeth white, even and regular, and many other 

 marks of freshness and vigor." 



But when a horse grows old it may be discovered by 

 these indications, which commonly attend old age, viz. : The 

 gums wear away, and leave the roots of the teeth long and 

 slender ; the roots grow yellow, and often brownish ; the 

 bars of the mouth (which are always fleshy, plump and 

 dry in a young horse, and form so many distinct, firm 

 ridges,) in an old horse are lean, smooth and covered with 

 saliva, with few or no ridges. 



The eyes of a young horse appear plump, full and lively ; 

 the lids with few wrinkles, the hollows above the ball small, 

 and no gray hairs upon the brow, unless they proceed from 

 color or marks of the horse. The eyes of an old horse ap- 

 pear sleepy, dim, and sunk, and the lids loose and very 

 much wrinkled or shriveled, with large hollows and the 

 brow gray. The countenance of a young horse is bold, gay 

 and lively ; while that of an old one is sad, dejected and 



