Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/517

485&#93; HOR rJ ; are round, short, not very so* lid] and successively cast and re- placed by others. When l and a half old, the two middle teeth in the upper jaw, and those in the lower jaw, are cast : in the course of another year, four others drop out, one on each side of the former. At the age of about -1 }- years, the horse loses four others, arjd always next to those which have already fallen out and been replaced. These, four foal-teeth are succeeded by four others, but do not grow so quickly -is the eight first, and which are railed corner- teeth. They replace the four foal-teeth, and are the chief marks by which the age of a horse may lined : they are the third, both above and below, counting from the middle of the jaw, being holiow, and having a black mark in their cavity. When the horse is four years and a half old, they .are scarcely visible above the gum ; and the cavity is very sensible : in the course of a year and a half, they begin to till ; and the mark conti- nually diminishes and contracts, till the animal attains the age of i or eight years, when the ca- vity is completely rilled, and the black spots disappear. These teeth cease to alibrd any knowledge of a horse's age, after eight years, when it is ascertained by the tushes, which are the four teeth next to those last mentioned, and which, like the grinders, are not preceded by any other teeth. The two in the lower jaw usually begin to shoot at 3 1 years ; those in the up- per jaw at 4 ; and both continue very sharp pointed till tiie animal is 0' years of age. At 10 years, the teeth in the upper jaw appear blunt- ed, worn out, and long) the gum extracting in proportion to the u> HOR [4S5 ing years ; and the more ex- posed the teeth are, the greater ia . — From 10 to 13, or, 14, little can be perceived to determine the age ; but at that time of life, the upper teeth seem blunted, the gum contracts, and these useful bones are left bare. In proportion, therefore, to the greater or less degree of these marks, the age of a horse may be determined ; and likewise, though not perhaps with equal accuracy, by the bars in the animal's mouth, which decrease as he advances iu year-,. — On this occasion, it will not be useless to point out an odi- ous practice, of which many ost- lers and stable-keepers are guilty, especially towards the horses of strangers. When provisions are at an exorbitant price, those inhu- man monsters have sometimes the cruelty to mix a few leaves of the bird-cherry (vol. i. p. 50C)) among the hay, or to rub the fatigued ani- mal's teeth with tallow, or soap : in either case, it will obstinately re- fuse food, and not eat, tiil the hay is changed, or the teeth have been properly scoured with common salt. In a horse that is free from ble- mish, the legs and thighs are well shaped; the knees straight; the skin and shanks thin ; the back si- news strong and firm. The pas- tern joints should be small and ta- per, and the hock lean, dry, and not puffed up with wind. With respect to the hoof itself, the coro- net ought to be thick, without any tumor, or swelling; the horn bright, and of a greyish colour. The fibres of a strong foot appear very dis- tinctly, running in a direct line from the coionet to the toe, like the grain of wood. Such a foot, how- ever, ought to be kept moist and I i 3 pliable > 3