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MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY. 
At this period it is not unusual for dishonest dealers 
to deceive the unskilful with regard to the age of a horse. 
If they happen to possess one that has been foaled a little 
earlier than usual, probably in January, and which may 
have acquired bulk and strength, they punch or draw out 
the central nippers, and the others appear some months 
earlier than they otherwise would. This will allow the 
teeth to rise much quicker than they would do naturally, 
and three or four months may be thereby gained in their 
reproduction; consequently dealers who wish to take ad¬ 
vantage of this may sell a colt for a year older than he 
actually is. 
But we must look to the general form of the animal, and 
when young it will be manifested by the small development 
of the forehead. The second pair of incisors will still have 
the mark, and it will also be much stronger on the corner 
ones, and probably with an enlargement or irregularity 
about the gums, in consequence of the teeth having been 
violently forced out; the first and fifth grinders will be 
small, and the sixth will not have yet appeared. As it 
is the teeth of the lower jaw which are usually consulted as 
to his age, dealers who wish thus to impose seldom extract 
the teeth of the upper jaw, therefore it would be well to 
examine it also, when all the signs will remain. Attention 
to these points will enable any one to detect the true age of 
the colt. 
A horse at three years of age will have the central per¬ 
manent nippers growing with their edges sharp in com¬ 
parison to the others. All the others will be in a state of 
decay, and he will have six grinders in both jaws on each 
side, the first and sixth of which will be level with the 
others, and the sixth protruding. 
At three years and a half, or at least between that and 
