14 MANUAL OF FARM ANIMALS 



mouth the characteristics of that period of hfe in which the 

 horses have their greatest value, thus endeavoring to make the 

 young appear old and the old appear young. It is ordinarily 

 easy for one of experience to detect a mouth that has been tam- 

 pered with. While many are very skillful at bishoping, it is a 

 hard matter very materially to alter the mouth without detec- 

 tion. After the teeth have once been interfered with they can 

 no longer serve as an index in estimating age, the dental tables, 

 the cups, and the like having been partly or wholly destroyed. 



DETECTING UNSOUNDNESS 



A satisfactory definition of soundness or unsoundness is not 

 easily given. The term "unsound" as used by horse dealers 

 in this country is often loosely applied. It may mean anything 

 from a mere bad habit to a defect th'at renders the animal 

 absolutely worthless. The best usage warrants dividing these 

 imperfections into two classes — blemishes and unsoundness. 



A blemish may be defined as something that depreciates the 

 value of a horse without interfering with his usefulness, such as 

 wire cuts, car bruises, and the like which mar the appearance of 

 a horse but do not limit his functions. 



An unsoundness may be defined as an imperfection of so serious 

 a nature as to interfere with the usefulness of the horse, such as 

 ring-bones, side-bones, splints, curbs, and the Hke. 



The ability to detect unsoundness depends largely on practice ; 

 yet some imperfections cannot be detected by an ordinary ex- 

 amination, and it is only after becoming familiar with the animal 

 that these will be observed. In examining a horse for unsound- 

 ness, it is well to follow a regular order beginning with the head 

 and ending with the feet. There are a great number of im- 

 perfections to be found among horses, too many to be catalogued 

 here. The following list contains the more important : — 



Decayed and broken teeth. — A foul odor indicates decayed 

 or unsound teeth. This can easily be detected, as it attaches 



