THE NECK. 103 



THE NECK. 



The outline of the upper part of the neck should be con- 

 vex rather than concave (or ewe necked), and at either end 

 the curve should flatten out where the neck joins the head 

 and body. The outline of the under part of the neck should 

 be similarly convex with a slight reverse curve under the 

 jowl, but the other end of the outline, where the neck joins 

 the body, ends rather abruptly with an inward sweep. 



As the length of the neck indicates the length of the 

 leverage muscles operating the forward movement of the 

 shoulders, horses possessing speed have longer necks than 

 those best suited to draught purposes. 



The upper part of the neck should be narrow and heavy 

 rather than deep and thin ; while the lower part should be 

 deep, thin, not thick, and well cut away in front of the 

 shoulders unless for very heavy draught. 



The windpipe should be large and have the appearance 

 of being loose, rather detached from the neck. 



In addition to the effect of the make and shape of the 

 neck on the powers of locomotion, they have considerable 

 influence in determining the extent to which the bit will act 

 on the mouth. A horse with a well-shaped neck will be 

 better able to flex it so that the bit can fall on the bars of 

 the mouth (that part lying between the front and back teeth). 

 Some horses with ill-formed necks are unable to bend them 

 in such a manner that, when the. bit is acted upon by 

 the reins being drawn, the mouthpiece can fall upon the 

 bars. Such horses are never so well in hand, and as a rule 

 have neither so light nor fine a mouth as animals with better 

 formed necks. (See illustration of the polo pony in 

 harness.) 



