HOW TO TELL THE AGE. 



319 



Fig. 389.— About Six Years Old. 



horses the edge of the lower jaw is round and full ; as the horse 

 becomes older, this, edge becomes sharper and thinner. 



The most unique trick shown the 

 Writer of telling the age was the fol- 

 lowing : — 



,. If a gold ring beattachedto a hair * 



pulled' from the tail or mane of a 



horse, and/suspended directly above. 



hjs. head between his ears, it will 



.oscillate, like a pendulum, just the. 



number of times the horse is years 



oldj then stop and repeat. I have, 



repeatedly made the experiment^ 



and it certainly seemed to repeat 



the age of the horse ; but I could not feel satisfied that the motion 



of the ring was not in a 

 great measure controlled 

 by the involuntary move- 

 ment of the hand. The 

 man who gave the idea 

 made the experiment in 

 the presence of the writer, 

 with apparent Success. 



Jockeys frequently re- 

 sort to cutting down the 

 teeth of ag^d horses, so 

 as to simulate as much as 

 possible the appearance 

 of age:' This 'was formerly 



Fig. 390. — About Twelve Years Old. 



of the mouth at eight or nine years 

 done by sawing of filing, but more 

 recently there has been invented, 

 by Dr. Lancer, a leading veterinary 

 surgeon of New Jersey, a very in- 

 genious instrument for /chipping 

 off the teeth, so that the front nip- 

 pers can be cut down very quickly 

 and easily by any amateur. But 

 the breadth of the teeth and other 

 changes of form, as explained, will 

 expose the deception ; also the 

 deep hollow and gray hair about 

 the eyes, with the under lip con- 



Fig. 391.— About Twenty Years Old. 



