110 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 2 



as if left too lonir. it becomes- thin and weal?, and 

 the heels low, whereby the flex or lendons ot the 

 leg are strained; whilst a short toe has a tendency 

 to strengthen the toot, and also to keep the heels 

 open and expansive. 



In shoeing a ihin looted horse, when the toe is 

 cut short, it is advisable to leave it nearly square, 

 merely rounding otl the angles with the rasp. No 

 nails should be driven into the hoof more li:)rward 

 than these anjjjles, even in the strongest feet, nor 

 yet so iiiras m general; and by this method, the 

 nourishment that would proceed to the support of 

 the toe descends to the heels, and tends to keep 

 them open. This, however, applies more to the 

 hinder than the lore feet, because the horn is al- 

 ways thi<'l<er at the toe beliire than behind; while 

 thequarters are even thicker of horn behiml than 

 belbre, by reason of the wearing of the toe lieing 

 greater behind than belbre, The heel of the shoe, 

 on strouiT and narrow-heeled horses, should be 

 n)ade straight at the extreme points ; the Ibim of 

 the shoe thus assisting in the distension of the 

 heels of the horse. 



Horses which turn out their toes are apt to cut; 

 and on examination this will be found to arise fiom 

 the inside heel beinii lower than the outside heel, 

 which may be remedied by [laring down the out- 

 side heel if the foot will allow; however, as the 

 heel will seldom allow this sufficiently, tlie shoe 

 may be made thicker on the inside of the foot, from 

 the heel to the toe, than it is on the oulside, taking 

 care that the inner heel of the shoes does not pro- 

 ject too nujch. 



Hitherto the observations on shoeing have been 

 general. I now come to the exception: — horses 

 must be shod short for hunting. If the hunter's 

 fore shoes be not short, he will pull them oli' with 

 his hind teet in jumping, and perhaps lame him- 

 self also. His hind shoes should be rounded or 

 bevelled at the toe, to prevent any seriously ill 

 effect which would otherwise arise from an over- 

 reach. 



Instructions for the choice and purchase of a horse. 



When a horse is exhibited for sale, or placed 

 before a purchaser, the color of the animal first 

 meets the eye of the inquisitor; and although I afn 

 well aware of the truth of the old adage, that a 

 good horse cannot be of a bad color, yet I cannot 

 help entertaining the opinion that the color Ire- 

 quendy indicates the quality of the horse's consti- 

 tution and temperament. I readily admit tliat 

 there are good horses of all colors; and what 1 al- 

 lude to, as indicative of the quality of the horse, is 

 not the peculiar color, but the manner in which it 

 is defined: — thus, whatever the color may be, whe- 

 ther grey, brown or chesnut, il' ii be strong and 

 very distinctly marked, I think it indicates a good 

 constitution. If, on the contrary, it be faint, or 

 almost evanescent, (if such an expression may be 

 allowed) I have generally found the constitution 

 of the horse to correspond, — to be weak, feeble 

 and liable to disease. And, if we reason upon 

 this subject, the principle or hypothesis will be 

 found perfectly consistent with the acknowledged 

 laws of natural philosophy, and the rules of phy- 

 siological science: since the weakness of the co- 

 lor arises from the corresponding weakness ol the 

 constitution of the animal, and may beconsequent- 

 ly very justly regarded as an indication of the 

 quality of the horse. 



The principal colors of the horse are, the bay 

 the black, the chesnut, the sorrel, the brown and 

 the grey. 



The bays are found of a variety of shades, the 

 most beautiful of which, however, is the bright 

 bay, mane and tail black, and black legs. Dark 

 bays have generally iheir knees and pasterns 

 black; and (here are several sorts of bays that have 

 black legs Ironi the knees downwards. Bay I 

 consider as one of the best colors. 



Black I regard as one of the worst colors. It 

 is is true, when you meet with a horse of a shm- 

 ing jet black, he looks beautiful; but in general, 

 black horses are coarse in their coats, a strong in- 

 dication of inferiority of blood. There are few 

 black Arabian horses. We do not often observe a 

 black race-horse; and those that occasionly make 

 their appearance seldom distinguish themselves. 

 T have had two black hunters, both Irish horses, 

 and both excellent jumpers; but evidently defi- 

 cient in blood, and, on that account, a capital run 

 distrepsed them very much: it is a fact, that when 

 you take a pinch too much out of" an inferior bred 

 horse, he does not come round again half as soon 

 as a thorouo-h bred. Nothing like blood — it will 

 beat every thing else. Some black horses have 

 brown muzzles, and are brown on their flanks : 

 these are called black brawns : some are of a light- 

 er color near their muzzles, and are called mealy- 

 mouihed horses; and of this sort are the pigeon- 

 eyed horses, which have a white circle round 

 their eyelids. Those black horses that partake oj 

 the brown will be generally found the best. 



The true chesnut is of one color, without any 

 shade or gradation, while the hair of others will 

 be found of three colors, the roots light, the mid- 

 dle dark, and the points of a pale brown. Many 

 chesnut horses have their manes and tails nearly 

 the color of their bodies. Chesnut horses are of 

 various shades or degrees; some are very beauti- 

 ful; but I have seldom seen a dark chesnut that 

 pleased me. Some chesnuts have white faces; 

 others have flaxen manes and tails, the latter are 

 anvthing rather than pleasing in my sight. 



The sorrel approaches the chesnut; and differs 

 principrdly in this, that the colors of the hair are 

 not so distinctly marked as in the chesnut. The 

 hairs of the sorrel are of several colors, intermixed 

 in which the red, or fox color, is predominant. 

 Sorrels have generally much white about their 

 legs, with a large blaze on the face, perhaps some 

 bald all over the fi\ce. 



Brown is a color b}' no means so beautiful as 

 either the bay or the chesnut. It also has its de- 

 grees or shades, some horses being dark, and others 

 liirht. Brown horses have generally black manes 

 and tails, and also black joints; but they become 

 gradually ligher towards their bellies and flanks, 

 and many are light about their muzzles. A dark 

 dappled brown is beautiful, but not often seen. I 

 once possessed a light dappled brown horse, his 

 color was fiiint ; and he, like all horses whose 

 coats are more strongly marked, which have fallen 

 under my notice, possessed a delicate constitution, 

 was a bad feeder, and incapable of enduring fa- 

 tigue. 



The greys are very much diversified in color ; 

 The dappled greys are very handsome, and so in- 

 deed are the silver greys. The iron greys are 

 reckoned hardy. The light plain grey, and the 

 pigeon-colored grey soon become white; as indeed 



