38 THE HORSE. 



repose, more brilliant when the animal is excited. The ear is 

 more beautifully pricked, and of exquisite shape and sensitiveness. 

 On the back of the trained hunter, the rider scarcely requires to 

 keep his eye on anything but the ears of his horse, which give 

 indications of everything that his ever-watchful eye catches sight 

 of. The nostril is not always so open in a state of rest, and indeed 

 often looks thick and closed; but in excitement, and when the 

 lungs are in full play from the animal being at speed, it expands 

 greatly, and the membrane shows scarlet and as if on fire. The 

 game-cock throttle that most exquisite formation of the throat 

 and jaws of the blood-horse is not so commonly seen in the Arab 

 as in the thorough-bred English racehorse ; nor is the head quite 

 so lean. The jaws, for the size of the head, are perhaps more 

 apart, giving more room for the expansion of the windpipe. The 

 point where the head is put on to the neck is quite as delicate as 

 in the English horse. This junction has much more to do with 

 the mouth of the horse than most people are aware of, and on it 

 depends the pleasure or otherwise of the rider. The bones, from 

 the eye down towards the lower part of the head, should not be 

 too concave, or of a deer's form ; for this in the Arab as in the 

 English horse denotes a violent temper, though it is very beautiful 

 to look at. Proceeding to the neck, we notice that the Arab stal- 

 lion has rarely the crest that an English stallion has. He has a 

 strong, light, and muscular neck, a little short, perhaps, compared 

 to the other, and thick. In the pure breeds, the neck runs into 

 the shoulders very gradually; and generally, if the horse has a 

 pretty good crest, comes down rather perpendicularly into the 

 shoulders ; but often, if he is a little ewe-necked, which is not 

 uncommon with the Arab, it runs in too straight, and low down 

 in the shoulders. The Arab, however, rarely carries his head, 

 when he is being ridden, so high in proportion as the English. 

 He is not so well topped, which I attribute to the different way he 

 is reared, and to his not being broken in regularly, like the Eng- 

 lish horse, before he is put to work. His shoulders are not so flat 

 and thin, and he is thicker through in these parts generally for 

 his size than the English thorough-bred horse. His girth does 

 not show so deep, that is, he does not look so deep over the heart; 

 but between the knees and behind the saddle, where the English 

 horse very often falls off, the Arab is barrel-ribbed; and this gives 

 him his wonderful endurance and his great constitutional points. 

 This also prevents him from getting knocked up in severe training 

 or under short allowance of food, and in long marches. His chest 

 is quite broad enough and deep enough for either strength or 

 bottom. The scapula, or shoulder-blade, is both in length and 

 backward inclination, compared to the huuierus, or upper bone of 

 the arm, quite as fine in the high-caste Arab as in the English 



