Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1881-01-08
To Tell the Age Of a Horse.

hU dnyInlnB ike kuOWleuSe VI uOISc-
flesh is to read, as a musician would an
air of his "music," the age of 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 a 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. Thetwo-year-old
has the kernel-the dark substance in
the middle of the tooth 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 a FLY of less age by
having your attention called to the Cir
cumstance that ''she has no colts teeth"
when the fact of the matter is,
they have been carefully and pur-
posely extracted nor will "chaunter"
scruple to tell you the same of horse
il 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 q difference
of color in the center of the tooth. The
cement filling 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 a little depres-
sion in the center, and also 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 niprers no longer appears to
dip down to the gum, but looks more
like 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 point, and
the extremity somewhat curved.
"Now, or possibly few months
earlier, the horse may be said to have a
perfect mouth.
At seven years the marx 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
pletely filled up until the animal is eight
J 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 o.
mouth" There is, however, a " fake
termed bishoping," from the knavt
/ who first started it, by which the mark
l on the lower nippers is prolonged. II
is supposed to be done with "graver,
= by which cavity of the pattern of {
t seven-year-old is scraped out of the
5 surface of the corner teeth. The whole
is then finished with hot iron, leaving
a permanent mark by which an I'M
l practiced eye might well be deceived
= but the exact natural appearance is new
s err so neatly initiated as to deceive ont
, who has paid any attention at all to thu
t Development of horses mouth.
0 There are indications which enable
NcTJ SuI6Wu ODSclNtlo w SuCoo u1
horses age after eight years even, bu
( none to enable accurate determination
o In the ninth year the mark has entirel,
S disappeared from the upper middl
t teeth, and the hook on the corner onl,
r has increased in proportion as the bridl
| teeth lose their points. At eight the up
u per surface of the nippers are all oval
e and as the animal gets older they dimin
sh in width but not in thickness. The
e become more rounded, and appea
e wider apart.
i At twelve years of age the crown o
II all the lower front teeth has becom
J. somewhat triangular, and the bridl
u teeth much worn down; but anything
further must be left to experts, and woul
,e serve no useful purpose to enlarge upo
here. / must not, however, omit Il
d draw attention to the fact that as horse
advance in age their gums shrink away
conveying that long, narrow appearance
g of the teeth which has long formed tn
subject of proverb. They likewise los
g their upright position, and appear t
a lean forward, more particularly the up
70 per ones, which assume an arched shape
ID Beyond the indications of age afforde
by the teeth are some others, which
fe very little experience will render fami
1t lar. A dark-colored horse-as brow
in or bay-will in time turn gray abor
Or the face, name, and top of the tail; tn
,e back becomes hollow, and the pit c
lie cavity about the eyes gets by degree
more and more pronounced. Apractic
prevails among the more unscrupulou
m tricksters of the trade by which this az
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