The Horse 255 



crown he may be any age or none. Jockey- 

 ing dealers sometimes- file the smooth crowns 

 to simulate the ridges and corners of youth. 

 In the case of a blood horse that is impossi- 

 ble. The stud book forbids any man thus 

 to take freakish liberties with Father Time. 



Colt-teeth are shed progressively, as are 

 human milk-teeth. Normally the shedding 

 is finished at five years old, when the horse 

 is reckoned " aged." Occasionally colt-teeth 

 stay in the mouth up to seven years. Then 

 they are commonly so discolored and decayed 

 country farriers call them "wolfs teeth" 

 and insist that unless they are at once pulled 

 the horse owning them will go blind. Five 

 years is the common period of growth, though 

 exceptional horses may grow as well as cut 

 teeth, up to the age of seven. 



One of the most famous and deliberate 

 among turf frauds was foiled by the fact that 

 a horse's jaw thus records his age. Epsom's 

 famous Derby is a stake exclusively for three- 

 year-olds. A long time back, two four-year- 

 olds were unfairly entered for it, and one of 

 them, Running Rein, had the luck to come 

 first, with Orlando, a game three-year-old, 

 second. Some way a whiffy of the fraud got 

 about. Orlando's owner claimed the stake 

 and went to law to prove his claim. The 

 frightened conspirators killed and buried 



