548 NUMBER OF TEETH : TUSHES : [BOOK IV. 



or filling up, large at the knees and other joints, 

 wide jowl, rough coat, and intractability, denote 

 the foal and colt in succession ; all which indications 

 vanish gradually as it advances towards maturity, 

 and becomes full mouthed. Heavy cattle assume 

 premature age and sometimes deceive us upon the 

 first view ; nor do such decay when aged so fast as 

 the more spirited, fretful, and lighter breeds : and 

 as no one would purchase a horse for use before it 

 be fit for his purpose, nor take to one that is worn 

 out, the vendor hesitates not to stretch a year or so, 

 one way or the other, as may best suit his own 

 interest and his customers' wants. To aid their 

 nefarious designs, they are said to file the marks of 

 age in colts' teeth, and to bishop the aged, for con- 

 firmation of their falsehoods. But we never rely 

 wholly upon those marks, but turn our attention to 

 the curve of the tushes in the horse's mouth, and 

 the sloping forward of the corner teeth in both 

 sexes, to detect the imposture. 



When we open the mouth of a full grown, or 

 four year old horse, we perceive twelve nipper 

 teeth in front and twenty-four grinders behind : 

 between the two sets, above and below, a space is 

 seen on the gum, designed by nature to receive 

 the bit, and termed the bars of the upper or lower 

 jaw, as the case may be. About an inch behind 

 the last of the front teeth, the male has tushes at 

 this age, which seldom occur with mares. The 

 tushes coming up in the lower jaw sometimes occa- 

 sions soreness at the bars, when these are to be 



