The following rules will enable any man to ascertain with tolerable certainty the age of any horse.  Every horse has six teeth above and six below; before he arrives at the age of three he sheds his two middle teeth by the young teeth rising and shoving the old ones out of their place.  When he arrives at the age of three, he sheds one more on each side of the middle teeth; when four years old he sheds two corner and the last of his fore teeth; between four and five he cuts his under tusks, and when five will cut his upper tusks, and have a mouth full and complete, and the teeth will have hollows of a very dark brown colour.  At six years old the grooves and hollows in a horse’s mouth will begin to fill up a little and their tusks have their full growth, with their points sharp, and a little concave.  At seven years old the grooves and hollows will be pretty well filled below.  At eight the whole of the hollows and groves are filled up, and you see the appearance of what is termed smooth below.  At nine years old, the point of the tusk is worn off, and the part that was concave begins to fill up and become rounded.  Between nine and ten years of age a horse generally looses the marks of the mouth.  After nine years old a wrinkle comes on the eyelid at the upper corner of the lower lid, and every year thereafter he has one well defined wrinkle for each year over nine.  If, for instance, a horse has three wrinkles, he is twelve; if four, he is thirteen, &c.

329.  Head, neck or lungs

How to tell by looking at a horse whether there is anything the matter with his head, neck or lungs.  A knowledge of this is as useful as it is simple.  If there is nothing the matter with the head, neck or lungs of a horse, the nostrils will have a clean, healthy, and bright appearance, but if there is, they have always a dirty, muddy, or in some way an unhealthy appearance.

330.  Prof.  MANDIE’S horse taming

Take finely grated horse caster, or the warty excrescence from the horse’s leg, oils of rhodium, and cumin, keep these in separate bottles well corked; put some of the oil of cumin on your hand and approach the horse on the windy side that he may smell it; he will then move towards you, then rub some of the cumin on his nose; give him a little of the castor on sugar, salt, or anything he likes, and get 8 or 10 drops of the oil of rhodium on the point of his tongue; you can then get him to do anything you please.  Follow up your advantage by all the kindness and attention possible towards the animal, and your control is certain.  This is only fit for nervous horses; but the railroad system is certain.  In all kinds of ugly horses it is the best of methods.

331.  Botts in horses