BOOK VI. XXIX. 3-xxx. i 



in appearance and, in spite of its length, rounded as 

 far as its shape allows. As regards character, those 4 

 horses are esteemed which are roused to activity 

 after being quiet and become very mild again after 

 being roused ; for such animals are found to be both 

 amenable to discipline and very ready to take part in 

 public contests and the effort which they require. 

 At two years of age a horse is suitable to be trained 

 for domestic purposes ; but, if it is to be trained for 

 racing, it should have completed three years, and 

 provided that it is entered for this kind of effort only 

 after its fourth year." 



The signs which mark a horse's age change with its 5 

 physical changes. For when it is two years and six 

 months old, its middle teeth, both the upper and the 

 lower, fall out. In the course of its fourth year the 

 so-called canine teeth are shed and it grows new 

 ones in their place ; then, before the end of its sixth 

 year the upper and lower molars fall out, and in the 

 course of the sixth year it makes up the number of 

 the first set of teeth which it has changed ; in the 

 seventh year the whole set is completed, and hence- 

 forward the animal has some hollow teeth ; and, 

 subsequently, it is impossible to ascertain with 

 certainty what its age is. In its tenth year, however, 

 its temples begin to sink and its eyebrows sometimes 

 begin to turn white and its teeth to project. I think 

 I have said enough on the subject of the horse's dis- 

 position, character, physique and age. My next 

 business is to set forth the way to look after horses in 

 health and sickness. 



XXX. If a horse is thin without being ill, it can be Medicines 

 restored to condition more quickly with roasted wheat °^ °'^^' 

 than with barley ; but it must also be given wine to 



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