Abbott "Pete" Smith D.V.M. June 16, 1938 - February 22, 2010 |
Welcome to Milliron Monday where every Monday we celebrate the legacy of Pete Smith, D.V.M., and Milliron: Abbott “Pete” Smith, D.V.M. The Biography (Monday Creek Publishing 2017), including his wife Jody (1938-2021).
"If a horse has 4 cups in
his mouth, how old is he?"
- Jody Smith
Jody's battered green notebook documents all things horse. First, there are several pages of potential names for horses, including unusual and foreign names.
The next section is all about horse teeth; how to identify age, details of lateral incisors, corner incisors, central permanent incisors, cups in central incisors, etc., and this poem...
To tell the age of any horse
Inspect
the lower jaw, of course.
The
sixth front tooth the tale will tell
And
every doubt and fear dispel.
Two
middle "nippers" you behold
Before
the colt is two weeks old
Before
eight weeks, two more will come
Eight
months, the "corners" cut the gum
Two
outside grooves will disappear
From
the middle two in just one year
In
two years from the second pair
In
three the corners, too, are bare
At
two, the middle "nippers" drop
At
three, the second pair can't stop
When
four years old, the third pair goes
At
five, a full new set he shows
The
deep black spots will pass from view
At
six years, from the middle two
The
second pair at seven years
At
eight, the spot each "corner" clears
From
the middle "nippers" upper jaw
At
nine, the black spots will withdraw
The
second pair at ten are white
Eleven
finds the "corners" light
Continued-I'm
out of characters!
Update:
As time goes on, the horsemen know,
The
oval teeth, three-sided grow.
They
longer get, project before,
Till
twenty, which we know no more.
"Gleason's
Handbook of Horses" published in 1892
More from the notebook...
Have a great week ahead.
Connect with Gina...
Through captivating, powerful, and emotional anecdotes, we celebrate the life of Dr. Abbott P. Smith. His biography takes the reader from smiles to laughter to empathy and tears. Dr. Smith gave us compelling lessons learned from animals; the role animals play in the human condition, the joy of loving an animal, and the awe of their spirituality. A tender and profound look into the life of a skilled veterinarian.
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