HOW TO TELL A HORSE’S AGE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5390, 6 July 1878, Page 1 (Supplement)

HOW TO TELL A HORSE’S AGE.

By Pkof. J. A. Going, M.E.C.V.S.E.

During our late Western trip, wo' were struck very forcibly by a remark made by a prominent horseman. The remark alluded to was, when speaking about the trotter generally, “No tooth no horse,’’.and suggested that it would be quite a boon to the readers of the Spirit were we to write an essay on dentition, Viewing, it in its different aspects and from different stand-points.' This we have concluded to do, as it affords us great pleasure to accede to the requests of our readers, whenever we have an opportunity. There is no doubt that many gentlemen, who are in other respects connoiseurs in horse matters generally, are not by any means so well informed respecting the subject about which we have been speaking. In this way. gentlemen are frequently victimized when making purchases ; this is notoriously tho case when they are transacting business with dealers who resort to that disreputable practice of “ biahopiug." By possessing information bn not only the effect age should have on tho infundibulum, - or black spots on the teeth, hut also on the general appearance which an average horse of a given age should present, tho purchaser will be less nt tho mercy of the seller. To commence, we would advise our readers not to be satisfied with merely committing the principal points of the following to memory, and relying on it when occasion requires that they should put their knowledge to a practical test. We strongly recommend them to commence and examine animals of the different ages which will hero bo mentioned, and compare what they see before them with what they expected to find, taking our remarks as a guide. In tliis way they will indelibly write the matter on the tablets of their memory. Our remarks will ho altogether confined to the permanent teeth ; we will, therefore, not allude to tho temporary unless to mention that, as their names suggest, they are oast at various ages, and this will bo unavoidably mentioned as the various ages are considered. It would not be an inappropriate commencement to state what teeth are ; They are hard, comparatively small bodies, fixed in the alveoli (sockets) of each jaw, and are used to grind and masticate substances intended for the nutrition of the body ; and, of course, the more perfect they are, the better that office will he performed, True tee.th are only found in tho mammalia, reptiles, and fish. Teeth are, as a rule, of nnirregulav, cone* like shape, the base being toward the interior of the mouth—-that is, they are set in.a slanting direction, . the superior portions being placed exterior of tho inferior, instead of perpendicularly, as they would appear to a casual : observer. The ■ gum is the dividing line ; that portion immediately in contact with the upper portion el the gnm, and immediate below

and above it, is called the cervix, or neck; the fangs, or roots, being imbedded in the alveolus, or socket, of the superior and inferior maxillaries, respectively. The incisors are situated in the front of the mouth, 1 and as they are the ones we shall have piost to say about, we shall give a description rtf them, and afterwards direct special attention to the changes that takes •place in them as the animal advances in age. • Teeth are considered to be active agents in mastication. Their mode of development is the same in all our domesticated animals. Those placed together in front, at the middle of the dental arch, are called the incisors, or incisive teeth ; those situated behind these (two in the and two in the inferior, maxillary) are denominated canine teeth, or tushes; those which occupy the more concealed portions of the mouth are called molars or grinders. A horse has forty teeth, composed of twelve incisors, four-tushes, aud twenty-four molars ; the mare has corresponding teeth, except the tushes, which are, in the female, almost invariably absent, hence she has only thirty-six. All teeth are composed essentially' enamel, dentine, and crusta petrosa. A curious but remarkable fact presents itself ' respecting the growth of horses’ teeth, which is not common to other animals, namely, that the teeth are growing continually from their development to the animal’s death. They are forced up r ward from their sockets to supply the materialremoved by attrition. Tnshea are never shed'; they make their'appearance between the animal’s four aud a-half and fifth year; hence if they are just protruding we know, without any confirmatory evidence, the horse's age. Either at birth, or from one to four days afterwards, the colt has four milk teeth, called the central. -

The lateral teeth appear between four and six weeks after birth, the corner teeth about the eighth month. The centrals, or those which first make their appearance, are shed between two and a-half and three years ; the laterals are shed between three and a-half and four years ; the corner teeth between four and a-half and five. About this time, or a little before the tushes are full grown, tho animal is said, in horsemen’s phraseology, to have a full mouth. We now come to the important part of the subject, where an animals age is determined by the appearance of the black spots, or, more correctly, the infundibulum. The infundibulum, or black marks, are worn out of the superior or smooth surface ©f the lower jaw at six years old. and those of the lateral are commencing to dissappoar, being completed at the seventh year ; thus at this age we find the wearing surfaces of bo th central and lateral inferior teeth smooth, the black marks having been worn away by attrition, and the marks of the corner teeth begin to disappear, and have entirely disappeared when the animal becomes eight years old. The horse is now considered aged, and no conscientious veterinary surgeon or horseman would positively assert the animal’s age, only approximately. Some people aver they can determine the exact age by signs other than the teeth, but such indications are unreliable.

As the animal advances in age his teeth gradually grow long, and appear to become more horizontal. The mouth, which at five years old was cup-shaped, now loses this appearance and becomes elongated. The teeth, which were, at the age last mentioned, nearly perpendicular, are now slanting ; and this process continues with advancing age. As a horse becomes old the enamel loses its original beautiful whiteness, and assumes a cloudy or smoky yellow instead, and become striated with brown and black marks, and the tushes not infrequently drop. The operation called “ bishoping” consists of burning holes in the teeth to stimulate the original but worn out infundibulum. A Used eye will not be so deceived, as it looks at the mouth and teeth generally, but if only the marks are taken as guides the inexperienced are very apt to be victimized by purchasing horses which are old; and when the'owner, expects he is in his prime, he finds the horse unable to* masticate, and from old age and consequent general breaking down of the system he becomes useless ; therefore we would caution our readers to be very careful about making their examination in this connection, as some persons make a dishonorable but lucrative living by tf bishoping.” There are’such, even in this model city, that will make you a five or an eight year mouth without additional charge, and without reference to the animal’s actual age. —Spirit of the Times.