COMPENSATION OF DEFECTS OF CONFORMATION 101 



Two and one-half times the head gives — 



1st. The height of the withers, H, above the ground. 



2nd. The height of the top of the croup above the ground. 



3rd. Very often the length of the body from the point of the arm to that of the 

 buttock, EF. 



The length of the croup from the point of the haunch to that of the buttock, D F, is 

 always less than that of the head: this varies from 5 to 10 centimeters. As to its width 

 from one haunch to the other, it often exceeds only very little its length (often it is equal 

 to the latter) (G. & B.). 



The croup, D r, exists quite accurately in length four times in the same horse. 



1st. From the point of the buttock to the inferior part of the stifle-joint, F P. 



2nd. In the width of the neck at its inferior attachment, from its insertion into the 

 chest to the origin of the withers, S X. 



3rd. From the insertion of the neck into the chest to the angle of the lower jaw, x Q, 

 when the head is held parallel to the shoulder. 



4th. Finally, from the nape of the neck to the nostril, ii ii, or to the commissure of the 

 lips. 



The measure of one-half the head will also guide us very much in the construction of 

 the horse, when we know that it is frequently applied to several of his parts, namely : 



1st. From the most prominent point of the angle of the lower jaw to the anterior 

 profile of the forehead above the eye, R Q (thickness of the head). 



2nd. From the throat to the superior border of the neck behind the poll, Q L (attachment 

 of the head). 



3rd. From the inferior part of the knee to the coronet, t' T. 



4th. From the Ijase of the hock to the fetlock, v U. 



5th. Finally, from the point of the arm to the articulation of the elbow (approximate 

 length of the arm). 



COMPENSATION OF DEFECTS OF CONFORMATION 



The perfect horse is an unknown and unknowable quantity, for however 

 perfect judgment of his physical conformation may be, it is impossible for 

 the most astute and experienced of horse experts to gauge with precision 

 the absolute and relative value of his many and various component parts. 

 From a general view-point, it may be affirmed that all horses, however 

 beautiful they may be, are still but a combination of excellencies and 

 defects, and upon the predominence of the one or the other will depend in 

 a large measure his utility and value. It must not, however, be forgotten 

 that faults of conformation, although at all times objectionable, are not 

 always of that serious practical importance which the uninitiated assign to 

 them, for, as Goubaux and Barrier observe, " it frequently happens that a 

 good quality annuls a defect, or that one defect may be counter! )alanced by 

 another whose influence is diametrically opposite ". 



The following long list of examples of this kind we reproduce from 

 their exhaustive treatise on the Extei-ior of the Horse. 



