^opttlar HDtrttonnri) of TmmateXf flature. 329 



plants which the ox devours with pleasure. 

 His thin and muscular lips, his firm and 

 compressed mouth, and his sharp incisor 

 teeth, are admirably adapted to seize and to 

 crop the grass ; and when, free from man's 

 control, he can follow his own propensities, 

 we all know that grass is his chosen food : 

 yet, in order that he may subsist (as in his 

 present state of domestication he necessarily 

 must) on aliment of a much harder kind, 

 he is enabled, by the peculiar structure of 

 some of the bones of his face, so to move his 

 jaws as to comminute and grind down his 

 "corn," Of the various modes of judging 

 of a Horse's age, the best is from a careful 

 inspection of the teeth. Five days after 

 birth, the four teeth in front, called i'/>/;<?rs, 

 begin to shoot ; these are cast off at the age 

 of two years and a half, but are soon re- 

 newed ; and in the following year two above 

 and two below, namely one on each side of 

 the nippers, are also thrown off; at four 

 years and a half other four next those last 

 placed fall out, and are succeeded by other 

 four, which grow much more slowly. From 

 these last four corner teeth it is that the ani- 

 mal's age is distinguished, for they are some- 

 what hollowed in the middle, and have a 

 black mark in the cavities. At five years 

 old these teeth scarcely rise above the gums; 

 at six, their hollow pits begin to fill up, and 

 turn to a brown spot ; and before eight years 

 the mark generally disappears. A Horse's 

 age is also indicated by the canine teeth or 

 tusks, for those in the under jaw generally 

 shoot at three years and a half, and the two 

 in the upi>er at four ; till six they continue 

 sharp at the points ; but at ten they appear 

 long and blunted. There are, however, 

 many circumstances which render a decision 

 as to the age of the Horse very difficult after 

 the marks are effaced from the lower inci- 

 sors ; and it should be observed, that Horses 

 which are always kept in the stable have 

 the mark much sooner worn out than those 

 that are at grass ; to say nothing of the 

 various artful tricks resorted to by dealers 

 and jockeys to deceive the inexperienced 

 and unwary. 



The Horse has three natural paces, namely, 

 walking, trotting, and galloping. In the 

 first, he moves off with one of his fore feet, 

 which is immediately followed by the hind 

 leg of the opposite side ; and so with the 

 other fore and hind leg. His trot differs 

 from his walk, not only in its greater velo- 

 city, but also in this, that he always moves 

 the two opposite legs together. Trie gallop 

 is a series of leaps, and it is true and regular, 

 when the horse lifts his two feet on one side 

 at the same time, and follows with those on 



! the other side. These three natural paces 

 may be converted into artificial paces by art 

 and skill. But as this is a part of the science 



| of horsemanship, it is not necessary to be 

 more than adverted to in this place : we 

 shall therefore merely observe, that the trot 

 is the pace which enables all quadrupeds to 

 balance and support themselves with ease 



| and firmness ; and it is therefore the most 

 proper for ensuring a free determined motion 

 to the Horse. 

 An old writer, Camerarius, says, a perfect 



1 Horse should have the breast broad, the hips 

 round, and the mane long, the countenance 

 i fierce like a lion, a nose like a sheep, the 

 ! head, legs, and skin of a deer, the throat and 

 i neck of a wolf, and the ear and tail of a fox. 

 This is as graphic as it is concise ; but to be 

 serviceable it is much too general : we there- 

 fore turn to the pages of the Penny Cyclo- 

 i pa;dia for fuller particulars as to the proper 

 I conformation of the Horse. " The head, 

 should not be disproportionally large, and 

 should be well set on; t. e. the lower jaw- 

 bones should be sufficiently far apart to 

 enable the head to form that angle with the 

 neck which gives free motion and a graceful 

 carriage to it, and prevents its bearing too 

 heavy on the hand. The eye should be 

 large and a little prominent, and the eyelid 

 : fine and thin. The ear should be small and 

 I erect, and quick in motion. The lop-ear 

 indicates dulness or stubbornness ; and 

 when it is habitually laid too far back upon 

 the neck, there is too frequently a disposition 

 to mischief. The nostril in every breed 

 should be somewhat expanded : it can hardly 

 be too much so in the Racer, the Hunter, the 

 Roadster, and the Coach-horse, for this ani- 

 mal breathes only through the nostril, and 

 would be dangerously distressed when much 

 speed is required of him, if the nostril could 

 not dilate to admit and to return the air. The 

 neck should be long rather than short. It 

 then enables the animal to graze with more 

 ease, and to throw his weight more forward, 

 whether he is in harness or galloping at the 

 top of his speed. It should be muscular at 

 its base, and gradually become fine as it ap- 

 proaches the head. The withers should be 

 somewhat high in every Horse, except per- 

 haps that of heavy draught, and it does not 

 harm him, for there is larger surface for the 

 attachment of the muscles of the back, and 

 they act at greater mechanical advantage. 

 A slanting direction of the shoulder gives 

 also much mechanical advantage, as well as 

 an easy and pleasant action, and a greater 

 degree of safety. It must not however exist 

 in any considerable degree in the Horse of 

 draught, and particularly of heavy draught. 

 The chest must be capacious, for it contains 

 the heart and the lungs, the organs on which 

 the speed and endurance of the Horse depend. 

 Capacity of chest is indispensable in every 

 Horse, but the form of the chest admits of 

 variation. In the waggon-horse the circular 

 chest may be admitted, because he seldom 

 goes at any great speed, and there is com- 

 paratively little variation in the quantity of 

 air required ; but in other Horses the varia- 

 tion is often fearful. The quantity of air 

 expended in the gallop is many times that 

 required in hard work* Here we must have 

 depth of chest, not only as giving more room 

 for the insertion of the muscles on the action 

 of which the expansion of the chest depends, 

 but a conformation of the chest which admiti 

 of that expansion. That which is somewhat 

 straight may be easily bent into a circle when 

 greater capacity is required ; that which is 

 already circular admits of no expansion. 

 A few words more are all that our limits 

 permit us to add, and they contain almost 

 all that is necessary on the conformation of 



