90 ATTITUDES OF THE HORSE. 



the school-horse should carry his head high and the muzzle 

 well advanced out of the perpendicular. If the head be 

 carried too high ; forward reach will be proportionately 

 sacrificed to upward shoulder action, with consequent 

 loss of speed. Hence, hunters, animals that require to be 

 clever over bad ground, such as pig-stickers and Colonial 

 stock horses, and those in which showy action is sought, 

 such as chargers, school-horses, and park-hacks, should 

 carry their heads higher than animals in which speed is 

 the chief consideration. The more the fore legs are 

 lifted by the play of the shoulders, and not by the mere 

 raising of the knees ; the safer, more brilliant, less 

 fatiguing, and faster will the action be in every class of 

 horse. 



The chief muscle which draws the fore limb (of each 



side) forward and upward, is attached by one end to the 



humerus and by the other to the top of the head. Other 



muscles that draw the shoulder-blade forward and upward, 



are attached to it and to the ligament of the neck, which 



stretches from the withers to the top of the head (p. 39). 



As muscles act best when their points of attachment are 



wide apart ; the horse, during rapid movement, regulates, 



under normal conditions, the amount of the extension 



of his neck, according to the speed at which he is going. 



In this case, the head and neck are the fixed point ; the 



fore limb, the movable one. As long, therefore, as the 



speed of any particular pace remains uniform, the length 



of the neck (measured roughly from withers to top of 



head; should continue unchanged. Consequently, when 



riding or driving, if we desire the horse to maintain a 



uniform rate of speed, we should keep a uniform tension 



on the reins (note, for instance, the fixed position of the 



hands of a capable lad from a racing stable, when he is 



riding a steady training-gallop), and should not " giv^e 



and take " with them. If the speed be increased, the 



hands, supposing their hold on the reins remains unaltered, 



should be advanced, as may be required ; if it be de- 



