JUDGING HORSES 151 



they are most easily exposed to view, are originally oval-shaped 

 at the t^ble or wearing end, gradually becoming triangular to- 

 ward the root. The longitudinal dimensions of the teeth are 

 curved, with the convexity forward, toward the lips, the con- 

 cavity toward the mouth. The table itself is cupped out in the 

 centre by a depression, into which the enamel of the tooth dips. 

 As wear commences, the surface enamel is worn off, leaving two 

 distinct enamel rings, one around the margin of the table and tlie 

 other around the cup. This cup itself becomes gradually more 

 shallow until it is finally worn almost completely away. As 

 wear on the table removes more and more of the end of the tooth, 

 the level of the pulp cavity in the centre of the tooth is finally 

 reached, and the exposed tip of this canal appears between what 

 is left of the cup and the front of the tooth. Other sequences of 

 the continued wearing aAvay of the tooth are the changes in out- 

 line of its transverse diameter, becoming, first, more oval from 

 side to side, then more distinctly triangular as wear continues 

 toward the root. Also, as the mouth end of the tooth is worn 

 away the level of the tables and their contact is maintained by 

 the tissues closing in behind the root and forcing the tooth for- 

 ward. This gives the angle of the arch of the incisors less curve 

 and more slant, at the same time rendering the margin and out- 

 line of the jaw sharper and flatter. As the arch becomes more 

 slanting, the surfaces of the teeth meet at a different angle, and, 

 in the case of the comers, the lower teeth do not wear clear to 

 the back margins of the uppers, so that a hook or notch is grad- 

 ually formed, worn away, and formed again at different years. 

 These, with the eruption of the canines, which occurs in males at 

 from five to six years, are the principal changes upon which the 

 age is reckoned. It remains now to indicate just what changes 

 are characteristic of the different yearly periods (Figs. 96—116). 

 The Importance of Age. — Age plays an important part in 

 determining a horse's market value. Statistics show the best 

 selling age to be from five to eight years, while, on the 

 contrary, experience has demonstrated that the best wearing 

 and most serviceable age is from eight to twelve. After a horse 

 passes eight and has had some city wear, the market classes 

 him as second-handed and discounts his value accordingly. 



