Teeth of a Five-Year-Old Horse
“All that is correct. And the animal’s age?”
“It must be four years old. At three the second set of central incisors has grown, and now at four come the incisors next to them.”
“Your opinion is mine too: the horse is four years old. Now it is Emile’s turn. I will ask him to examine this third picture of a horse’s jaw, and I hope he will show his usual perspicacity.”
Teeth of a Six-Year-Old Horse
“These teeth,” said Emile after some study, “are too large to be milk teeth. All six belong to the second set, and as the newest are the outside incisors the animal must be a year older than the preceding one; that is to say, five years.”
“Very good, Emile,” applauded his uncle. “You have handled the case like a master. At five years the entire second set of incisors has pushed through and it is too late to learn anything by comparing teeth of first and second sets; henceforth the degree of wear in the different incisors is our sole guide. Thus at six years the coronal pit in the central incisors has entirely disappeared, while it is still [[361]]plainly seen in the third incisors. Finally, at eight years these latter are worn down so that their crowns are smooth. It is then said that the horse no longer shows its age by its teeth. Nevertheless an expert can still detect, on the surface of the incisors as they become more and more worn, certain marks that enable him to estimate, at least pretty nearly, the age of the horse up to the twentieth year and beyond.”
“That must be a difficult undertaking,” commented Jules.