EYESORES AND DEFECTS 7 



Experts call a horse with a straight-dropped hind-leg and 

 houghs little bent " cock-legged " {murgh-'pa)} 



A horse with triangular quarters is called " wedge-like " [tabar- 

 gun)." No dealer would buy one, for it will never put on flesh. 



A horse that is "knock-kneed^ behind " is called kulach ("^ cow- 

 houghed"). Fat or lean, such a horse will travel well. It will 

 suit a soldier but never a dealer. 



A very hollow-backed horse will not carry weight. The 

 Mu gh als call it " saddle-backed " {zln-'pusM) and regard it as a 

 curiosity. The Hindus, however, like it and call it kachchhd^ 



A horse with its belly touching its back will never bring credit 

 to its master ; for whether small or big it can nowise be fattened. 

 Such an animal is called "gazelle-bellied" (a/i^7-s/iifcam = herring- 

 gutted) ; it will be a poor-feeder. 



A horse with flat, spreading, and brittle feet is called " pancake- 

 hoofed ^' [chapdti-sum] . It will knock up if ridden over stones or 

 on hot sand. 



A horse with bent hoofs, whether bent much or little, will 

 certainly trip badly ; such a horse is called " ass-footed " [Jchar- 

 suma) .^ 



A horse that goes wide behind is called by the dealers hushdda- 

 raw. Indians think this a defect, but not so the Mughals. 



1 Apparently sickle-houghed or cat-hammed horses were formerly 

 admired : perhaps old-fashioned swordsmen found them quicker at 

 " jumping off." Murgh-pd is now sometimes, but incorrectly, applied to 

 a horse with straight pasterns. 



2 Tdbar is a battle-axe, triangular in plan as well as in section. In 

 a tabar-gun horse the quarters viewed from behind are triangular and 

 probably narrow to a point behind ; the horse is usually goose-rumped 

 as well. 



3 The author uses the term pd,on kd ghutnd for hough (for hunch, H.). 

 A knock-kneed man is also called kulach or kulanj. In the Zinaf^ 

 'l-Khayl the word is written kuchal, perhaps a copyist's error. " Houghs 

 in, elbows out," is a cant phrase in the Arab stables. 



* Also kachcJihJ, supposed to have originally been a breed from the 

 province of Cutch {Kachh). The more effeminate Hindus would 

 naturally prefer a saddle-backed horse. 



■' According to the ZlnaP'- 'l-Khayl, this means that the hoof is 

 hollow and the sole rugged. One would expect the term to mean 

 "with contracted heels." 



