10 THE HORSE 



mouth ; for a horse which cannot give way to the pressure of the bit is sure 

 to become dull in his mouth, and therefore unpleasant to ride or drive. 

 The eye is to be examined with a twofold purpose, firstly, as an index of 

 the temper, the nature of which is marked by the expression of this organ ; 

 and secondly, in reference to its present state of soundness, and the 

 probability of its continuing healthy. A full and clear eye, with soft, 

 gazelle-like expression, is scarcely ever associated with a bad temper, and 

 will most frequently continue sound, if the management of the horse to 

 which it belongs is proper in itself. The ear should be of medium size, not 

 too small, nor too large, nor should it be lopped, though many good lop- 

 eared horses have been known, and some very superior breeds, like that of 

 the celebrated Melbourne, are notorious for this defect. 



THE NECK should be of moderate length, all beyond a certain dimension 

 being waste, and even a moderate -sized head at the end of an extremely 

 long lever being too much for the muscles to support. It should come out 

 full and muscular, with a sweep between the withers and the bosom, and 

 should gradually diminish till it runs into the head, with an elegant bend 

 just behind the ear. A very narrow throat suddenly bent at the upper 

 part, marked as the throttle, is apt to be connected with roaring, and on 

 that account is objected to by horsemen. 



IN THE FORE-QUARTER there are several points to be attentively ex- 

 amined, and among these, the shoulder is regarded as of most consequence, 

 when the horse under consideration is intended for the saddle. It is 

 evident that, unless there is length of the blade, and also of the true-arm, 

 there cannot be a full surface for the attachment and play of the muscles, 

 nor can there be the same amount of spring to take off the jar which follows 

 each footfall. The straighter the angle formed by the long axis of each 

 of these bones, the less spring there will be. So, also, if the angle is not 

 sufficient, the muscles of the shoulder-blade will not thrust forward the 

 true-arm, nor will the latter be sufficiently clothed with muscles (without 

 being loaded) to act on the fore-arm, commonly known by the horseman 

 as the arm. Hence it is found, that with an upright shoulder, not only 

 is the stride in all the paces short and the action stumpy, but there is not 

 that elastic movement which enables the horse to carry his body along 

 rapidly and eventy, without rising alternately behind and before, and 

 thereby jarring himself or his rider. On the other hand, the upright 

 shoulder, loaded with a thick mass of muscles, is useful in the cart-horse, 

 and to a certain extent also, in the carriage-horse, in both of which the 

 pressure of the collar requires a steady and comparatively motionless sur- 

 face to bear it. The difference between the two extremes of oblique and 

 upright shoulders is well illustrated in the accompanying woodcut, in which 

 it will be seen that in the former the angle between the blade (a) and the 

 true- arm (b) is very considerable, while in the latter it is much less. 

 Hence it results, that when the muscles of the blade bring the axis of the 

 arm into nearly the same line with its own axis, the fore-arm (e) in the 

 oblique shoulder will be thrust forward and raised to a greater degree 

 than in the upright formation, as is shown in the engraving in the parts 

 represented by dotted lines (de). It follows, therefore, that horses intended 

 to have high, and at the same time forward, action should have oblique 

 shoulders, for without them they will almost to a certainty either have 



