246 



HORSE AND MAN. 



man, because the mode of carrying the ears is one 

 of the tests whereby to judge a horse's temper. 



All this is perfectly true. But it was equally 

 true in the days when cropping was in fashion, and 

 yet its truth had not the least effect on the advocates 

 of the custom. 



This figure of the Cropped Horse is taken from 



a 'cropped' horse. 



a hunting print of the period in which cropping was 

 in fashion. 



At the present day the ear is, happily for the 

 horse, allowed to retain its full dimensions, so that 

 the animal can direct it as he chooses, and be sensible, 

 as he ought to be, to the slightest sound. But, though 

 the groom may not cut the ear off, he cannot let it 

 alone. The inside of the ear is furnished with a 



