58 THE AGE. 



the marks in the two middle horse nippers in the 

 lower jaw are worn out ; that he is eight, when the 

 marks in the two corner horse nippers in- the lower 

 jaw are worn out, will occasionally deceive you, if 

 taken solely as a guide ; for a horse that is always fed 

 on dry grain and dry grass, wears out the marks 

 quicker than one that is always fed on soft grain and 

 green grass. The groove in the inside of the tushes 

 that gradually fills up as he advances in years, varies 

 so much in different horses, that it is no better a guide ; 

 for in some colts they come before three and ahalf years 

 old, and in others not till after four and a half : in some 

 horses they are very little blunted at the points at 

 twelve, and in others they are blunted at eight/"" The 

 length of the teeth is no surer a test, for they are some- 

 times found short at twelve, and long at ten. 



If a horse that is known to be ten or eleven years 

 old, has the marks remaining in the two corner horse 

 nippers in the lower jaw, it is sometimes concluded 

 from this that he has been bishoped. If at this age 

 the tushes should happen to be sharp at the points, 

 and the teeth also short, like a young horse, it no 

 doubt would be a good opportunity to endeavour to 

 deceive us by bishoping a couple of marks in these 

 two corner horse nippers, if they should be worn out ; 

 but the stain on such a tooth, somewhat similar to that 

 burnt on the bone handle of a knife to give it the re- 

 semblance of tortoiseshell, will often expose the cheat 

 of itself. A little round hole, made with a pointed 

 iron, as well as the mark of a file, with occasionally a 

 very small particle of the outer side of the tooth chip- 



* It is seldom you are deceived in the tuslj. I have aged many thousands 

 of horses, always taking the tush as a criterion, and have seldom been much 

 out ED. 



