2i8 HEAD AND NECK. 



Romance (Fig. 487). In the Arab pony, The Brat 

 (Fig. 309), the curved hne is perfect from the head to 

 the croup ; but, on account of the way he is standing, it 

 descends too abruptly from the top of the croup to the 

 tail. In Ormonde (Frontispiece) the head is set on to the 

 neck in a coarse, stiff manner. The ideal contour which 

 I have described, is evidently an affair of beauty rather 

 than of usefulness. 



Neck. — As the length of the neck indicates the length 

 of the muscle which draws the fore limb forward (p. 43) ; 

 the more we seek for speed and ability to jump cleverly 

 in an animal, the longer should be his neck ; its thickness 

 being limited by the amount of strength the muscles have 

 to put forth. The race-horse, hunter, and fast trotter, 

 therefore, should have a long and comparatively thin 

 neck, and the other classes should have their necks pro- 

 portionately shorter and thicker according as they recede 

 from the racing and cross-country type and approach 

 that of the heavy draught animal. The operation of this 

 rule should be restricted only so far as to allow sufficient 

 length of neck for grazing purposes. Some heavy cart- 

 horses have such short necks that they cannot feed off 

 level ground with comfort to themselves. When the art 

 of breeding is pushed to such an extreme as this, I cannot 

 help thinking that there must be some defect in its prac- 

 tical working. It is evident that the combination of a 

 large head and a thin neck is not only unpleasing to the 

 eye, but is almost always a sign of general weakness. 



The all-essential power which men possess to guide and 

 regulate the movements of a horse, largely depends on 

 the flexibility of the animal's neck. Were we unable to 

 make him bend it, and to oblige him to turn his head to 

 one side or the other in obedience to the " feeling " of 

 the hands on the reins, he would be all but useless to us 

 in the saddle and for ordinary harness work. I once 

 undertook to saddle and get ridden an old entire zebra 



