Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-01-13
q 90 alss 49, 3g9a & Z p
To Tell the Age OF q Horse.

"
at anything like knowledge of horse
flesh is to read, as musician would an
air of his. ssmuSic,1 the age of 3 horse
by his mouth. Like many other things.
it is most easy when you know how, and
really takes very little learning. The
young Of the horse comes into the world
with twelve grinders; by the time the
colt is twelve days old four front teeth
may be counted, and, when further
four have made their appearance, the
youngster will be close upon month
old. The corner teeth, as they are
called, do not assert themselves till the
fOal is about eight months, but they do
not obtain the height of the front teeth
till four months later. The two-year-old
has the kernel-the dark substance in
the middle of the tooth's crown-grOund
out of all the front teeth, in the third
year the middle front teeth are being
shifted; and. when three years old, these
are replaced by the permanent or horse
teeth, which are larger and more yellow
than their predecessors. In the sue
ceeding year the next four teeth are
shifted, and in the fifth the corner teeth
give place to the permanent nippers.
When five years old the horse should
possess forty teeth, of which twenty-four
are grinders far back in the jaw, and
with which we have little to do. The
buyer must be particularly on his guard
against having palmed off on him as
fully five years old FLY of less age by
having your attention called to the cir
cumstance that 'sshe has no colts teeth, "
when the fact of the matter is,
they have been carefully and pur-
posely extracted nor will sschaunter''
scruple to tell you the same of horse
if he fancies you know little about it,.
But, be it remembered, horses invaria-
bly, have tushes, which mares very rare
ly do. Before the age of six is arrived
at the tush is full grown, and has a
slight groove on its internal surface
(Which generally disappears with age,
the tush itself becoming more rounded
and blunt), and at six the kernel or
mark is worn out of the middle front
teeth. There will still be difference
of color in the center of the tooth. The
cement filing the hole made by the dip
ping in of the enamel will present a
browner hue than the remaining part of
the tooth, and it will be evidently sur
rounded by an edge of enamel, and
there will even remain little depres-
sion in the center, and also a depression
round this case of enamal; but the deep
hole in the center of the tooth, with the
blackened surface which it presents,
and the elevated edge will have disap-
peared. Persons not much accustomed
to horses have been sometimes sadly
perplexed, expecting to find plain sur
face uniform in color. The mark in
the corner nipners no longer appears to
dip down to the gum, but looks moro
like a hole made in the middle of the
tooth. The edge of the enamel has
become regular, and the surface evil
IDENTIFY worn. The tushes have now at
tanned their full growth, being nearly or
quite an inch in length, convex without,
concave within, tending to a point, and
the extremity somewhat curved.
Now, or possibly a few months
earlier, the horse may be said to have
perfect mouth.
At seven years the mark as described
is very nearly worn out of the four CEN
ter nippers, and fast wearing away in
the corner teeth, especially in mares;
but the black mark still remains in the
center of the tooth, and is not COM
pleely filled up until the animal is eight
years old. As he gets on past seven
the bride teeth begin to wear away.
A eight the kernel has entirely disap-
peared from all the lower nippers, and
begins to decrease in the middle uppers.
1t is now said to be "past mark OF
mouth" There is, however, ;" fake"
termed bishoping," from the knave
who first started it, by which the mark
On the lower nippers is prolonged. 1t
is supposed 20 be done with s.graver,"
by which a cavity of the pattern of a
seven year-old is scraped out of the
surface of the corner teeth. The whole
is then finished with a hot iron, leaving
a permanent mark by which an un-
practiced eye might well be deceived;
but the exact natural appearance is new
err so neatly initiated as to deceive one
who has paid any attention at all to the
developement of horses mouth.
There are indications which enable
very shrewd observers to guess at
horses age after eight years even, but
none to enable accurate determination.
In the ninth year the mark has entirely
disappeared from the upper middle
teeth, and the hook on the corner only
has increased in proportion as rhe bride
teeth lose their points. At eight the up
per surface of the nippers are all oval,
and as the animal gets older they dimin-
ish in width but not in thickness. They
become more rounded, and appear
wider apart.
At twelve years of age the crown of
all the lower front teeth has become
somewhat triangular, and the bride
teeth much worn down; but anything
further must be left to experts. and would
serve no useful purpose to enlarge upon
here. I must not, however, omit TO
draw attention to the fact that as horses
advance in age their gums shrink away,
conveying that long, narrow appearance
of the teeth which has long formed the
subject of proverb. They likewise lose
their upright position, and appear to
lean forward, more particularly the up
per ones, which assume an arched shape.
Beyond the indications of age afforded
by the teeth are some others, which q
very little experience will render famil-
lar. A dark-colored horse-as brown
or bay-will in time turn gray about
the face, name, and top of the tail; the
back becomes hollow. and the pit or
cavity about the eyes gets BY degrees