AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 29 
ders thin, flat, and not confined; the back equal, even, and 
insensibly arched lengthways, and raised on each side of 
the spine, which should appear indented; the flanks full and 
short, the rump round and fleshy; the haunches well co- 
vered with hair; the stump of the tail thick and firm; the 
fore legs and thighs thick and fleshy, the knee round before, 
the houghs large and rounded, the sinew loose, the joint 
next the foot small, the fetlock not thickly covered with 
hair, the pastern large, and of a middling length, the coro- 
net rather raised, the hoof black, smooth, shining, and 
high, the quarters round, the heels wide, and moderately 
raised, the frog small and thin, and the sole thick and 
hollow. 
‘¢ But there are few Horses in which this assemblage of 
perfection is to be found. The eyes are subject to many 
complaints, which are sometimes difficult to be known. In 
a healthy eye we ought to see through the cornea two or 
three spots of the colour of soot, above the pupil: to see 
these spots the cornea must be clear, clean, and transpa- 
rent; if it appears double, or of a bad colour, the eye is not 
good: a small, long, and straight pupil, encompassed with 
a white circle, is also a bad sign; and when it is of a 
bluish green colour, the eye is certainly bad, and the sight 
dull. 
<<It is very easy to judge of the natural and actual state of 
the animal by the motion of his ears; when he walks he 
should project forwards the points of his ears; a jaded 
Horse carries his ears low; those which are spirited and 
mischievous, alternately carry one of their ears forward 
and one backwards; they all carry their ears on that side 
from which they hear any noise, and when any one strikes 
them on the back, or on the rump, they turn their ears 
back. Horses which have the eyes deep sunk in the head, 
or one smaller than the other, have usually a bad sight; 
those which have the mouth dry are not of so healthy a 
temperament as those which have the mouth moist, and 
make the bridle frothy. A saddle Horse ought to have 
the shoulders flat, moveable, and not very fleshy; the 
draught Horse, on the contrary, should have them flat, 
round, and brawny: if, notwithstanding, the shoulders of 
a saddle Horse are too thin, and the bones show themselves 
through the skin, it is a defect, which shows the shoulders 
are not free, and consequently the Horse cannot bear fa- 
tigue. Another fault of a saddle Horse is, to have the chest 
project too forward, and the fore legs drawn too much 
back, because he is apt to rest on the hand in galloping, 
and even to stumble and fall: the length of the legs should 
be proportionable to the height of the Horse; when the fore 
legs are too long, he is not sure footed,—if they are too 
short, he is too heavy in the hand: it is a remark, that 
Mares are more liable than Horses to be short legged; and 
H 
that Horses in general have the legs thicker than Mares or 
Geldings. 
«<One of the most important things to be known, is, the 
age of the Horse: it is from the teeth that we obtain the most 
certain knowledge of their age; the Horse has forty— 
twenty-four grinders, four eye teeth, and twelve incisive 
teeth: Mares have no eye teeth, or if they have them they 
are very short: the grinders are not instrumental to the 
knowledge of their age,—we form our judgment from the 
front and eye teeth. The twelve front teeth begin to show 
themselves fifteen days after the birth of the foal; these 
first teeth are round, short, not strong, and drop out at 
different times, in order to make room for others; at two 
years and a half the four front middle teeth drop out the 
first, two at top, and two at bottom; a year after four others 
fall out, one on each side of those which are already re- 
placed; at about four years and a half, four others drop out, 
always on the side of those which have been replaced; 
these four last milk teeth, are replaced by four others, 
which do not grow near so fast as those which replaced 
the first eight; and these four last teeth, which are called 
the wedges, and which replace the four last milk teeth, are 
those by which we know the age of a Horse: these are 
easily known, since they are the third as well at top as at 
bottom, beginning to count from the middle to the extre- 
mity of the jaw; these teeth are hollow, and have a black 
mark in their concavity; at four years and a half, or five 
years old, they scarcely project beyond the gums, and the 
hollow is plainly seen; at six years and a half it begins to 
fill up, the mark also begins to diminish and grow nar- 
rower, and so continues till seven years and a half or eight 
years, when the hollow is entirely filled up, and the black 
mark effaced: after the animal has attained eight years, as 
these teeth do not give further information of the age, we 
generally judge by the eye teeth or tusks; these four teeth 
are placed at the side of those which I have just now been 
speaking of; the eye teeth, as well as the grinders, are not 
preceded by others which fall out; those of the inferior jaw 
usually come out first at three years and a half, and the two 
of the upper jaw at four years, and till they are six years 
old, they are very sharp; at ten years old, the upper ones 
appear already blunt, worn, and long, because they are 
bare, the gum wearing away with age, and the more they 
are worn away the more aged the Horse is: from ten till 
thirteen or fourteen years, there is hardly any indication of 
the age, but then some hairs on the eyebrows begin to 
grow white; but this indication is equivocal, since it has 
been remarked that Horses engendered from old stallions 
and old mares have the hair white on the eyebrows at ten 
years old. There are also Horses whose teeth are so hard 
that they do not wear, and upon which the black mark 
