THE POINTS OF THE HORSE, ETC. 23 



to withers and from which the mane springs is called the " crest," and it The crest, 

 attains a much greater development in entire horses than in mares or 

 geldings, being in some instances so high and heavy as to lop over to one 

 side. For fast working horses, and especially those which have to travel 

 far, this is a very undesirable conformation, as it adds to the burden 

 carried by the forelegs, which normally support more than half the 

 animal's entire weight, and the neck should therefore be as light as 

 consistent with strength. Length as well as lightness is a point which 

 should be sought for in the neck of any horse intended for fast work, as 

 the muscles which lift and move forward the shoulders lie along it, and 

 length of muscles, generally speaking, means ease and quickness of move- 

 ment ; on the other hand, a short, strong, bulky neck is regarded by 

 some as the ideal for draught horses, and is said to enable the animal to 

 put weight into the collar. A careful inspection of heavy horses, however, 

 shows that many of them have as long necks as other breeds, though 

 their extreme muscularity and bulk may give the appearance of shortness 

 to the eye. 



Strength is imperative in this as in all other points of the horse : the Strength 

 neck must be sufficiently strong and muscular not only to lift and pull of neck, 

 forward the foreleg, but also to sustain the constant weight of the head. 

 This strength and muscularity is perhaps most fully realised when one is 

 in the saddle, for it may then be seen that the beautifully curved neck 

 which gave such an impression of grace and lightness w^hen looked at 

 from the side is nevertheless sufficiently thick and full of muscle when 

 seen from above ; while a weak neck, on the other hand, immediately 

 strikes one as thin and wanting strength when viewed from the same 

 position. 



The line of the crest from poll to withers should be firm to the feel, 

 and form a pleasing curve, with a slight dip just in front of the latter, 

 whilst the lower part of the neck which accommodates the windpipe, 

 gullet, and great blood-vessels which go from and to the head, should be 

 loose and flexible. 



The junction of the neck with the shoulder presents a long narrow Junction 

 triangular surface, from the withers down to the point of the shoulder, of neck 

 against which when in draught the body side of the collar rests, and on ^"^ 

 this account an accentuation of it and consequent width between the ^ ^°" ^^' 

 points of the shoulders may be a desirable feature in heavy draught horses. 

 In fast-working saddle horses it is not only undesirable but a positive 

 drawback, and in such the junction of the neck and shoulder should be 

 rather a slipping of one into the other than a sharply defined . space 

 between the two. 



