THE HORSE. 



general, make an unpleasant noise when trotting, 

 by striking the shoe of the hind-foot against the 

 shoe of the fore one; and though they are in 

 general very hardy, and capable of enduring 

 much fatigue, and of living on but little food, yet 

 a back of middling length is better by far than 

 one immoderately short or long. The back should 

 be nearly straight. 



'In the saddle-horse, and where safety is 

 desirable, the position of the fore-leg is worthy of 

 attention. It should be placed well forward, and 

 descend perpendicularly to the ground, the toe 

 being nearly in a line with the point of the 

 shoulder. The pasterns should neither be turned 

 in nor out. When they are turned inwards, the 

 horse is in general very liable to cut the fetlock- 

 joint by striking the opposite foot against it. 

 The draught-horse may be excused though he 

 leans a little over his fore-legs, but the saddle- 

 horse will be apt to stumble if he does so.' 



Minute attention should be bestowed on the 

 examination of the fore-legs and feet; these, in 

 fact, are the great trying-points. If the feet be 

 not round and full, so as to stand firmly and 

 flatly on the ground, and if tender or thin in the 

 hoofs, the animal is not to be trusted for saddle- 

 work. Mr Lawrence on this subject remarks : 

 * The feet of saddle-horses, be they ever so sound 

 and good in nature, detract greatly from the value 

 of the nag, unless they stand even on the ground ; 

 since, if they deviate inward or outward, the horse 

 will either knock or cut in the speed that is to 

 say, will strike and wound the opposite pasterns 

 either with his toe or his heel ; and if he bend his 

 knees much, and is a high goer, will cut the 

 inside of the knee-joint. Nature has been very 

 favourable in the hinder hoofs, with which we 

 have seldom much trouble ; but there is, now and 

 then, a most perilous defect in them namely, 

 when the horse is so formed in his hinder quar- 

 ters that he overreaches, and wounds his fore- 

 heels with the toes of his hind-feet.' The defect 

 here spoken of will be observed to cause an un- 

 pleasant clattering noise in trotting. The fore- 

 legs, from the knees downwards, should be clean 

 - made, sound, and flexible at the joints. Bad 

 usage knocks up a horse, or founders him; and 

 his legs, being in a kind of benumbed state, will 

 either wholly or partially refuse to perform their 

 office. By ease and physicking, the horse re- 

 covers ; but his system has been shaken, and he 

 is apt to come down. This is a fearful defect in 

 a horse ; for no one is for a moment safe on his 

 back. Weakness in the fetlock-joint will also 

 cause a horse to stumble and come down, and is 

 therefore an equally serious defect. When the 

 horse stumbles either through weakness or bad 

 management, so as to come down on his knees, 

 the likelihood is, that the knees are broken ; and 

 it is well known that wounds of this nature never 

 heal over to resemble the original The horse 

 with broken knees is, in short, damaged for life, at 

 least in as far as he is a marketable commodity. 



Horses are sold either with or without warranty. 

 At sales at repositories, the terms of warranty are 

 generally announced in a public manner; but 

 when the sale is private, no warranty is binding 

 which is not expressed in writing in the receipt 

 The principle that a price above 10 warrants a 

 horse sound, is not now recognised as binding. 

 The warranty, to be of any legal value, must be 



something different from a mere verbal under- 

 standing or illusory custom. 



DUTY OF HORSES. 

 Draught. 



The horse is equally willing to make himself 

 useful as a beast of burden or draught ; but his 

 powers are best adapted for the latter, and par- 

 ticularly on a level road. The formation of his 

 body does not suit him for climbing or going up- 

 hill with a load; and his strength is always 

 exerted to greatest advantage when he can throw 

 his centre of gravity forward as a make-weight 

 The amount of load which he can draw in a 

 wheeled vehicle depends on the arrangement of 

 the load to the pull. The pulling-point is across 

 the shoulders, and the most advantageous method 

 is, to make the line of traction proceed direct 

 from the shoulders to the load in no shape bent 

 or distracted from its course. The load should be 

 placed lower than the line of the shoulders, thus 

 making the line of traction go by a straight slope 

 to the seat of resistance. The load should not be 

 at a greater distance than will allow freedom of 

 motion to the hind-legs. If it be placed too low, 

 a part of the power will be uselessly spent in up- 

 holding it. 



According to the calculations of James Watt, 

 the weight which a horse can draw, called a 

 horse-power, is 1,980,000 pounds raised one foot 

 high per hour, or 33,000 pounds raised one foot 

 per minute. The weight is supposed to hang at 

 the end of a rope passing over a freely-moving 

 pulley. This calculation is based on considera- 

 tions more favourable than those which usually 

 attend horse-labour. There are, in reality, no 

 rules to guide the imposing of loads on horses ; 

 for everything depends on the degree of friction 

 on the wheels of the carriage, the nature of the 

 road, and the strength of the animal in question. 

 One thing is certain, that a horse always exerts 

 his power better by himself than when yoked with 

 others. The load which it requires four horses to 

 draw unitedly, if divided, could be drawn with 

 equal ease by three. 



It has been said, in reference to the operations 

 of Sir C Stuart Menteith : ' If the employment of 

 horse-wagons, weighing from twelve to thirteen 

 hundredweights, were adopted in conveying coal 

 through the streets of London, one horse would 

 do the work of two : at present, four immense 

 horses draw three chaldrons of coal, or four tons 

 one hundredweight, in a wagon weighing perhaps 

 two tons ; so that the shaft-horse is obliged to 

 draw a weight of six tons in turning out of one 

 street into another.' 



The power of draught of a horse depends on the 

 rate at which he is compelled to proceed. He 

 exerts his power to most advantage at a fair pull, 

 when moving at the rate of from two and a half to 

 three miles per hour. If he go at a greater speed, 

 he is less able to draw. As a general rule, if the 

 speed be doubled, the load should be halved ; and 

 if the speed be twice doubled, the load should be 

 quartered ; yet this will only hold as correct for 

 short distances. Much work may be procured 

 from a horse if he be impelled only for short 

 stages. A horse in a stage-coach, running only 

 five miles at a time, and then resting for a few 

 hours, will last at least four times longer than 



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