OUTWARD APPEARANCE OF THE HORSE. 101 



generally large and round. In the hind-legs the quarters should be 

 iaro-e, powerful, broad when looked at in profile, and square and solid 

 from behind. 

 Avoid Straight Hams. — "The hams should be sickle-shapea, not straight, 



and well let down, so as to bring the hocks well toward the gi'ound. The 

 hocks should be large and bony, straight, not angular and convexly cur- 

 ved in their posterior outlines ; the shanks, corresponding to che cannon 

 bones, short and flat, and the hind feet similar in form to the front. The 

 back should be short above, from the point of the withers and shoulder- 

 blade, which ought to run well back to the croup. The barrel should be 

 round, and for a horse in which strength and quickness are looked to, 

 more than great speed and stride, closely ribbed up. A horse can 

 scarcely be too deep from the tip of his shoulder to the intersection of 

 his fore-leg — which is called the heart place — or too wide in the chest, as 

 room in these parts gives free play to the most important vitals. The 

 form of the neck and setting on of the head are essential not only to 

 the beauty of the animal, but to the facility and pleasure of riding or 

 driving him ; hence, with an ill-shaped, short, stubborn neck, or ill set on 

 head, the animal cannot by any possibility be a pleasant-mouthed horse, 

 or an easy one to manage. 



A Clean, Strong Necl<. — " The neck should be moderately long, con- 

 vexly arched al)ove from the shoulders to the crest, thin w^here it joins 

 the head, and so set on that when yielding to the bit it forms a semi-circle, 

 like a bended bow, and brings the chin downward and inward until it 

 nearly touches the chest. Horses so made are always manageable to the 

 hand. The converse of this neck, which is concave above and stuck out 

 at the wind-pipe like a cock's wattle, is the worst possible form ; and 

 horses so made almost invariably throw up their heads at a pull, and the 

 most exceptionable of brutes, regular star-gazers. The head should be 

 rather small, bony, not beefy, in the jowl ; broad between the eyes, and 

 rather concave, or what is called basin-faced, than Eoman-nosed, between 

 the eyes and nostrils. The ears should be fine, small and pointed ; the 

 eyes large, clear and prominent, and the nostrils wide and well opened. 

 A horse so framed cannot fail, if free from physical defect, constitutional 

 disease and vice, to be a good one for any purpose — degree of strength, 

 lightness and speed, being weighed in accordance with the purpose for 

 which he is desired." 



IX. Front View Showing Bad Pore-Quarters. 



On page 98 are four figures. The upper left hand one shows a fair 

 leg down to the knee ; from that point down it is bad. The toes are turned 



