THIRD ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VI. 341 



THE MARKET HORSE IN DETAIL. 

 SOUNDNESS. 



The most important requirement of a market horse is "serviceable" 

 soundness; that is, he must have no chronic disease that will unfit him 

 for work of a general nature. He must be sound in wind and in limb, 

 able to do a reasonable amount of work without undue fatigue or prema- 

 ture breakdowns. The majortiy of the horses sold from a great market 

 go to the city trade and are compelled to do their work on hard, unyield- 

 ing pavements, pulling heavy loads, or developing speed that is an even 

 greater strain on the feet and legs. The average period of usefulness on 

 city streets of a horse that was sound at the start is not more than five 

 years, and it is manifestly evident that this time will be materially de- 

 creased if he begins this work in an unsound condition. Broken wind, 

 sidebones, unsound hocks, and all the various other ills that a horse is 

 heir to should be strenuously guarded against, as they greatly diminish 

 his value. 



CONFORMATION. 



The next requirement, then, is a conformation that will enable an ani- 

 mal to do hard work with a minimum of wear, and give him the longest 

 possible period of soundness. Special emphasis should be placed on the 

 foot, which should be of medium size, with hard and dense horn, plenty 

 of height to the heels and plenty of room between them, a large elastic 

 frog, and a nicely hollowed sole — in short, a sound, durable foot. The 

 pastern slopes well, corresponding to the slope of the shoulder. These 

 conditions — with flat, fully developed muscles, strong, well-developed 

 joints, strongly supported knees and hocks, clear, clean-cut tendons stand- 

 ing well out from the leg, arid dense bone of a quantity sufficient to sus- 

 tain the weight of the horse — will give a limb well calculated to with- 

 stand the wear and tear of a city pavement. 



Joining the fore and hind quarters we must look for a deep, fairly 

 wide, and compact middle piece, with ample room for chest organs, and 

 no pinching at the waist. Too much width should be avoided, as the 

 action of the forelegs is almost sure to be bad with such a conformation. 

 A short back is generally sought, especially one which shows the least pos- 

 sible amount of space between the last ribs and the hips, giving a "close 

 coupled" horse. This is almost as essential as a sound foot. A long 

 loose-ribbed, open-jointed, wasp-wasted animal is especially to be avoided. 

 Such a conformation indicates a lack of strength and forecasts an earlv 

 breakdown. The shoulders should be deep and smooth, and hind quarters 

 deeply muscled, wide and well rounded. A sloping rump is always un- 

 sightly and detracts both from the use and the value of the horse, for it stands 

 to reason that such a conformation cannot furnish the same amount of 

 muscle that a nicely rounded one can. The tail should be set high and 

 smartly carried. Prominent shoulder points, hips and buttocks are objec- 

 tionable. 



The neck should be clearly outlined, of moderate length, and well 

 muscled, with a good crest. The head should be clean-cut and of moder- 



