79 



CHAPTER X. 



ATTITUDES OF THE HORSE. 



Standing at Attention — Standing at Ease — Carriage of the Head and Neck. 



Standing at Attention. — When a well-shaped and 

 sound horse stands at attention, if I may use the term^ he 

 has his head and neck raised, ears pricked forward, the 

 profile of the face at an angle of about 60° (Fig. 52) to the 

 ground, and at about a right angle to the upper line of 

 the neck (the crest) ; and the weight distributed in due 

 proportion on all four limbs. If the hind feet be equally 

 advanced, a perpendicular line dropped from the point 

 of the buttock will, on the respective sides, about touch 

 the point of the hock (Fig. 50). If one hind foot be 

 placed in front of the other hind foot, the vertical line 

 will, more or less, divide the interval between the 

 points of the two hocks (Fig. 52). As the weight of 

 a horse's head and neck is beyond the base of support 

 formed on the ground by his feet ; he would stand more 

 or less ''over" on his fore legs — that is, their direction 

 would be downward and backward — if they were equally 

 advanced, and if each of his hind legs were fairly '' well 

 under him." When one fore leg is advanced more than 

 its fellow, and when it is vertical, the animal will of 

 course be somewhat '' over '"' on the other fore leg. 



French writers consider that when a horse stands 

 with the weight properly distributed on all his limbs, 

 a line dropped from each point of his buttock will coincide 

 with the posterior edge of his hind leg, from the point 

 of the hock to the fetlock ; and that the direction of the 



