NINE YEARS OLD 125 



At eight years old, horses require to be examined 

 for their age in the upper jaw, and conclusions can be 

 approximately arrived at by the appearance of the 

 nippers in that jaw. The mark remains longer in the 

 upper jaw than the lower, by reason of the friction 

 being less ; there is also a greater depth of tooth to 

 be worn away by reason of the upper jaw remaining 

 passive, whereas the lower one is always moved, and 

 thus the friction in the one is greater than that in the 

 other. The tushes are not exposed to wear and 

 tear. 



At nine years of age the mark will be worn from 

 the middle nippers ; from the next pair at ten years ; 

 and from the upper nippers at eleven. During tliese 

 years the tush is undergoing a manifest change ; it is 

 blunter, shorter, and rounder. To what degree this 

 change takes place at the several periods, many and 

 favourable opportunities can alone enable horse-owners 

 to decide ; for I do not myself place implicit reliance 

 in the appearance presented by the tush. Perhaps the 

 safest guide at such ages is afforded by the shape of 

 the surface of the nippers, which at eight years are 

 oval, the length of the oval running across from tooth 

 to tooth ; but as the horse grows older the teeth 

 diminish in size, and this diminution is in their width, 

 and not in their thickness. They become somewhat 

 separated from each other, and their surfaces are 

 rounded. At nine the central nippers are evidendy 

 so. At ten the others begin to have the oval 

 shortened. At eleven, the second nippers are quite 

 rounded, and at thirteen the corner ones also have 

 that appearance. At fourteen the faces of the central 

 nippers became somewhat triangular. At seventeen 



