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horses were so for no other reason than that their 

 teeth were the cause of it all. As the horse be- 

 comes four years of age and up until five and a 

 half years, he is cutting his tusks or canine teeth. 

 When the tusks are making their appearance, 

 the gums become very red and sore, therefore 

 making it very painful for the horse to eat as he 

 would like, and resulting in the falling off in 

 flesh The slightest touch on the gums with the 

 hand will cause the horse to fight your hand 

 away from the mouth, and sometimes will strike 

 very viciously with his front legs in order to pro- 

 tect his mouth. When you find siich to be the case, 

 take your pecketknife and make crucial incisions 

 through the gums down to the coming teeth. This 

 will prevent the horse from getting into the habit 

 of fighting the bit w T hen trying to bridle him. The 

 moment his gums are cut, he will by degrees re- 

 cover his appetite. 



Necessary Instruments for Operating on the 

 Teeth. 



The owners of horses that wish to take care 

 of their own horses' teeth should have in their 

 barn a jointed stiff or straight handle float, and 

 also an angular float, a twelve-inch file, a molar 

 cutter, a wolf tooth forcep, a wolf tooth separator 

 and a molar extractor. The straight handle float 

 is used to file the outsides, or edges, of the upper 

 molars or jaw teeth, and the inside edges of the 

 lower jaw. teeth. The angular float is used to file 

 the first, second and third upper and lower jaw 

 teeth. It can also be used to blunt the first upper 

 and lower molars. The twelve-inch file is also 

 used to blunt the first upper and lower jaw teeth, 

 and to smooth or blunt the canine teeth. The 

 wolf tooth separator is used to separate the wolf 



