The Farmer's Own Book: A treatise on the numerous diseases of the horse / with an explanation of their symptoms, and the course of treatment to be pursued; also a treatise on the diseases of horned cattle

by J. D. Koogle

THE PROCESS OF TEETHING.

At 1½ years of age the mark in the central nippers will be much shorter and fainter; that in the other pairs will have undergone an evident change, and all the nippers become flat.

At 2 years this will be more manifest, and about this period a fifth will appear. Now, likewise, another process is commencing: the first teeth are adapted to the size and wants of the young animal, and are sufficiently large to fill the colt’s jaws.

At 3 years old the horse should have the central permanent nippers growing, the other two pairs wasting away; six grinders in each jaw above and below, the first and fifth level with the others, and the sixth protruding; the sharp edge of the incisors, which will be very evident when compared to the neighboring teeth.

At 4 years the central nippers will be fully developed, with the edge somewhat worn off, and the mark in them shorter, wider and fainter; the next pair will have made their appearance with the mark deep, and extending entirely across them. The corner nippers will be larger than the inside ones, yet smaller than they were and flat, with the mark nearly effaced. The sixth grinder will have become level with the others, and the tushes beginning to make their appearance.

At 5 years the horse’s mouth is almost perfect. The corner nippers are quite up with the long, deep mark, irregular on the inside, and the other nippers bearing evident tokens of increasing wearing. The tush is much grown, the grooves have almost or quite disappeared, and the outer surface is regularly convex.

At 6 years the mark on the central nippers is worn out, though there is still a difference in the color of the centre of the teeth. The cement filling the hole, made by the dipping in of enamel, will present a browner hue than the other part of the teeth.

At 7 years the mark in the manner which we have described it, has worn out in the four central nippers, and is fast disappearing in the corner teeth; the tush also is beginning to alter—it is rounding at the point, the edges, and without, and beginning to get round inside.

At 8 years old the tush is rounded in every way, the mark has disappeared from all the bottom nippers, and it may almost be said to be out of the mouth. There is nothing remaining in the bottom nippers afterward that can clearly show the age of the horse.