To Tell The Age Of A Horse poem

Neat poem I found on another blog...

To Tell The Age Of A Horse

To tell the age of any horse
Inspect the lower jaw of course;
The six front teeth the tale will tell
And every doubt and fear dispel.
Two middle “nippers” you behold
Before the colt is two weeks old.
Before 8 weeks two more will come
Eight months the “corners” cut the gum.
The outside grooves will disappear
From the middle two in just a year;
In two years from the second pair;
In three years the “corners” too, are bare.
At two the middle “nippers” drop
At 3 the second pair can’t stop
When 4 years old the third part goes
At 5 a full new set he shows.
The deep black spots will pass from view
At 6 years from the middle two;
The second pair at seven years;
At 8 the spot each “corner” clears.
From the middle “nippers” upper jaw
At 9 the black spots will withdraw.
The second pair at ten are bright;
Eleven finds the “corners” light.
As time goes on the horsemen know
The oval teeth three-sided grow;
They longer get, project before,
Till 20, when we care no more.

~Walter Lawrence
Oakland CA

original post found at:
http://wildstorm.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/to-tell-the-age-of-a-horse/