American watchman and Delaware advertiser. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1822-1828, 1826-11-17
RULES FOR ASCERTAlNING A HORSES



Yearlines and TWO year Odds are alike in the
mouth, and must be judged by general appearance.
At three years old the horse has four horse teeth,
two above and two beiots, In front Of the mouth,
which supply the place Of sucking teeth AT four
he has eight horse teeth four above and four below.
| having the corner teeth only sucking teeth. At
1--WE years old these are gone, ard The mouth is up
that Isl all the teeth are horse teeth. and the tusk
is up on each side CT the mouth. A dark mark, or
hollow. generally observable In al the teeth in he
bottom jaw at just five Years Old, and the tusks
concavc in the inner surface. At SIX, The middle
teeth have quite lost this <, and the usk is high
et up, and longer, and not concaYe. At ssyenp
the next two teeth have LOST il, aud the cotner teeth
only have the mark left in them. At eight il has
grown out OF these, aud mark is lett st all. The
tusks arc also become longer, and instead of being
concave in their inner 0uriace become convex the
horse is then termed ased. There 10 great deal Of
difference in the mouths Of horsessoGle have lost
the mark IN all except the corDcr tseth, even as
early five years old-olhers have the front teeth
N the top Jaw projecting over the bottom teeth, at
the same age-and | have seen horses at seven
years old, with the corner teeth appearing like those
Of five year old. You may form some idea Of the
age from the appearance of the mouth in general,
when the marks are no longer visible. If the cor.
ner teeth do not appear long, and running forward
as il were, 10 the font of the mouth--i they retain
their sgnare shape, and shut well together--ii the
tusks not blunt, and have the least concavity in
their inner surface. you may conclude that the horse
is not very DID, particularly IL his head is not grey
and not very hollow above the eyes-thongh this
latter shape sometimes exists in young horses. A
concave tusk is the certain criterion OF YOUTH
and as mares have no tusk at all, they must be judg-
ed with reference to what have said about the
corner teeth 1t is here necessary to mention thar
the difficulty of acquiring en- accurate knowledge
of the age OF horses oy their teeh is very much in.
creased by the ricas that practised.
Ii is generally allowed that no horses are fl, to
work till at least Ave years old and it is common
custom with great breeders in the north of England
and with many dealers, to pull the sucking teeth
when the animal is rising four years od--lhe mouth
is forced by these means, for the horse teeth
ceeding after the operation, the animal appears
to be FIVE yearod. To detect such deception
regard must be paid to the tusk Every horse, upon
attaining the full age Of FIVE has the tusk complete
ly up on each side Of the mouth but 10 forced FIVE
year-cld mouths the tusk IS only just making its
way through the gums. There frequently exists
also in the latter irregularity in the front teeth.
well baekwardness n the growth OF the tusk
forced mouths yacy in their appearance according
TO the time of performing the operation aud he
habi, OF observing horses mouths will alone enable
you TO ascertain where any artihce has been pras-
tisc d. ~ 4. Farmer.