CHAP. I.] AGE FROM TWELVE TO TWENTY. 55S 



The tushes of old horses, then, have neither 

 curve nor groove : they wear away at the points as 

 if they had been broken off and polished again ; 

 the corner teeth appear long and leaning forward ; 

 the upper teeth project over the lower, and all lose 

 their oblong shape, whilst the gum recedes and 

 leaves their roots bare, so that the teeth seem as if 

 grown larger. When the teeth do not so meet 

 evenly, certain dealers file away the projecting 

 teeth ; for this denotation of old age, which may be 

 attributed to a strong mouth, sometimes happens 

 prematurely without any other corresponding sign. 

 In two or three other respects we notice similar 

 deviations from the general rule, that none know 

 how to account for, unless it be that such animals 

 were got by old parents, when the hollowness over 

 the eyes, also, will be found to disfigure young colts 

 of the most tender age. Some, again, lose the mark 

 in all their teeth except the corners, as early as five 

 years old ; others have hard mouths and the bars 

 almost callous ; but all these have the hollow just 

 spoken of. This defect dealers endeavour to rectify 

 by puncturing the skin and blowing it up. On the 

 other hand, some horses are so strong in the mouth, 

 or rather healthy, that the marks of five years old 

 are retained by them until six or seven.- 



Extreme old age may be further ascertained by 

 the mouth, with moderate accuracy. Up to ten or 

 eleven years old, the teeth generally retain their 

 oblong figure and touch each other. From this 

 period the teeth contract in size, become roundish, 



B b 



