224 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



The whole theory of advertising for purchase by contract is 

 based on the idea that bidders can learn what is wanted ex- 

 actly, and can then figure at what price they can afford to make 

 the deliveries. If this theory is perverted by permitting con- 

 tractors who have made dishonest or haphazard bids to evade 

 their contracts by furnishing as good horses as the price they 

 offer would warrant, it would be better to abandon it altogether. 



Well-bred horses that may be predicted as capable of giving 

 good service have about the following conformation: 



Head small, clear-cut, and well set on a long, slender neck. 



Shoulders sloping well forward, muscular, and long. 



Front leg well muscled above the knee, cannon shorter than 

 leg-bone, and both upright and straight, ankle sloping forward, 

 long and elastic; fetlock, ankle, and pastern, smooth, firm, and 

 small. 



Feet small, sound, and with well-developed frogs. 



Barrel deep, long, and well-ribbed up, about equal in size at 

 girth and middle, and sloping gradually from the middle towards 

 the sheath. 



Withers reasonably prominent and well muscled. 



Back flat, well muscled, and free from saddle-marks. 



Coupling short and strong. 



Croup slightly convex, viewed from side and rear. There 

 should be considerable length from loin to tail, and not much 

 curvature. 



Tail well set on, and, when the animal is in motion, carried 

 away from the body. The hair should be fine and silky. 



Thighs prominent and muscular and well filled up, when 

 viewed from behind. Measured from hip to hock, the thigh 

 should be long. 



Hocks clean-cut, not puffy, wide from the side, large and 

 well bent. The point of the hock should not be noticeably 

 prominent. Both hocks, viewed from behind, should be parallel 

 and straight under the horse's body. 



The cannon-bone should be flat and broad. Pasterns and 

 feet as in front legs. 



