Show HOW TO TELL A HORSES AOE AGE much experience d and nd wy many thu thing HT e to it ua auw rd to dIstIn Lulah merely between tho the young horse and the old it la Is only necessary to remember a lew few salient facts tho the first Js Is that the milk teeth are arc present in the horses mouth until be Is between 4 and 6 years old the tha second fact Is that the mark or dark central depression on oa the surface of the incisors becomes gradually worn wom out and in a horse over 8 3 epars pare old has nearly always disappeared from the teeth of the lower jaw the third fact Is that the shape ot of the tooth to Is much wider from side to olde aide than it to is from front to back As aa the borso becomes older the out face becomes progressively gres narrower fi tim in side to side aide and thus instead of remaining always oblong it becomes til angular and then in very old animals flat flattened teneLl from side bide to side in young horses then we judge the age by observing which bich ot of the milk teeth are present and which haie hae been replaced by permanent ones to distinguish between the milk teeth and the permanent remember that the milk teeth are smaller whiter and hae a distinct neck until U ln a colt Is over 2 ears old hla his teeth aie all milk and the tha age Is estimated from the amount of wear shown on the crowns of 0 the tha teeth between 2 and 3 the first ot of the permanent teeth make their apie ap learance aranco and push out the middle lo 10 teeth in both upper and lower lomer JAWS ja ws A horse la is said eald to be 3 years old when these central permanent incisors are fully in wear during the next summer the tha second pair 0 of permanent teeth appear and when they are fully grown and in wear the horse la Is 4 years old between 4 and 5 the last pair makes its ita appearance and now the horse has what Is called a full mouth so bo far both mares and forsea are alike but at or near 5 6 years old the canines or gushes bes appear in the male sex only up to the end of this period the determination of the a age ge Is a comparatively easy matter and any one who la IS at all observant can readily give the age of horbes by looking at their teeth after A ator a full mouth Is attained it la Is a more difficult matter and the tha difficulty ot of accurately telling the age ot of old horses Is greater ln in proportion to their age so much la is thia the case that it to la popularly suppose supposed d that it la Is impossible liue ime possible e to tell the age of horses after they are 8 years old this may be true to a great extent among the untrained trained and inexperienced but to an expert it to la not difficult to tell the age up to 15 years with a fair degree of accuracy and after that age to approximate it within a couple ot of years to do this successfully requires much experience peri per ence lence and a careful inspection of all visible indications of age to rely upon one only such as the mark is to court defeat all should be observed the mark the shape of the teeth their length and the angle at which they meet those of the other law jaw rall fall mall gazette |