16 THE FARMER'S ^ 



only be guessed at from certain indications; but 

 these guesses are usually made with considerable 

 accuracy by experienced people. If his teeth 

 shut close, and meet even, are tolerably white, not 

 over long, and his gums appear plump, you may 

 conclude he is not yet nine years old. At that age, 

 and as he advances, his teeth become yellow and 

 foul and appear to lengthen, from the shrinking 

 and receding of the gums. The tushes are blunt 

 at nine; but at ten years old the cavity or channel 

 on the inside in the upper tushes, until that period 

 to be felt by the finger, are entirely filled up. At 

 eleven, the teeth will be very long, black, and 

 foul, but ^vill generally meet even; at twelve, his 

 upper-jaw teeth will overhang the nether ; -at thir- 

 teen and upwards, his tushes will be either worn 

 to the stumps, or long, black, and foul, like those 

 of an old boar. Beside those exhibited by the 

 mouth, nature ever furnishes a variety of signals, 

 denoting the approach of old age and decay, 

 throughout the bodies of all animals. After a 

 horse has passed his prime, a hollowness of his 

 temples will be perceived; his muscles will be 

 continually losing something of their plumpness; 

 and his hair, that gloss and burnish which is the 

 characteristic of youth and prime, will look dead, 

 faded, or entirely lose its color in various parts. 

 In proportion to the excess of these appearances, 

 will be the horse's age. 



The following are among the devices practised 

 by a set of unfeeling rascals, who have no other 

 rule of conduct than their supposed interest to 

 counterfeit the marks of age in horses. At four 

 years old they will frequently knock out the re- 

 maining colt's teeth, in order to make the horse 



