192 HEAD AND NECK. 



heads are far more common among " the five furlong 

 division," than among genuine stayers. Again, the head 

 ' should be of sufficient size to afford a broad surface 

 for the attachment of the muscles of mastication, for 

 those which extend, flex, rotate and move the head 

 from one side to the other, and for muscles which draw 

 the fore limbs forward, and which are, consequently, 

 important agents of movement. The connection between 

 the size of the head and the amount of intelligence 

 possessed by an animal is, as in man, too ill-defined 

 to admit of any practical deductions being made from it. 

 As the usefulness of a horse is generally limited by the 

 amount of work his legs will stand, the possession of a 

 heavy head by an animal which is " light of bone " in 

 his extremities, is a serious defect ; for it shows that 

 his frame is wanting in symmetry, and also tends to 

 indicate that the bones of his body, and, probably, 

 the muscles and other tissues, are too heavy for his legs. 

 If, however, he shows great substance and good quality 

 of bone, tendon and ligament, we might very well " put 

 up " with some " plainness " about his head. Any use- 

 less weight of that part, acting at the end of the lever 

 formed by the neck, will naturally be objectionable. 

 Agreeably to the facts mentioned on pages 184 and 186, we 

 may judge the length of the head by that of the body, the 

 usual proportion being about i to 2^. Or we may compare 

 the length of the head with the depth of the body at the 

 lowest point of the back. In a well-shaped horse which is 

 not in gross condition, these two measurements are very 

 nearly equal ; although the head, from its isolated position, 

 looks much less long, at first glance, than the body is deep. 

 Besides, the fact of the body being round, while the side of 

 the horse's head, as seen in profile, is flat, will cause the depth 

 of the former to appear to measure more than the length of 

 the latter. We may prove the approximate correctness of 

 the ratio of i to 2\, by reference to the table given on 

 p. 170. From it we see that in Ormonde the proportion 



