BREEDS OF HORSES 29 



MARKET REQUIREMENTS. 



The factors that determine how well horses sell upon the mar- 

 ket are: Soundness, conformation, quality, condition, action, age, 

 color, education, and general appearance. To meet the market de- 

 mand, a horse should be serviceably sound, by which is meant one 

 that is as good as a sound horse so far as service is concerned and 

 able to do a reasonable amount of work without undue fatigue or 

 indications of a premature break-down. He may have slight blem- 

 ishes, but nothing is permitted that is likely to cause lameness or 

 soreness in any way. He must be good in wind and eyes, but may 

 have small splints and puffs, and a little rounding on the curb joint. 

 Broken wind, thick wind, side bones, unsound hocks such as curbs, 

 spavins, and thoroughpins, large splints, and buck knees are dis- 

 criminated against. If a horse is to do hard work with a minimum 

 amount of wear and give the longest possible period of service he 

 must possess a conformation indicative of strength, endurance, and 

 longevity, the indications of which are good feet, a good constitu- 

 tion, good feeding qualities, good bone, and symmetry of confor- 

 mation. For city use too much emphasis can hardly be placed upon 

 the requirement of good feet, for the old adage, no foot, no horse, 

 is still true ; but in horses for farm use it is not so important as they 

 rarely break down in the feet. A good constitution denotes health 

 and endurance which is indicated by a deep, capacious chest giving 

 sufficient room for well developed vital organs. Endurance is also 

 evidenced by the indications of a good feeder, which are a short 

 well muscled back and loins, a deep barrel with no tucking up of 

 the rear flank, and closely coupled (coupling is the distance from 

 the last rib to the hip). A good bone should have enough weight 

 to correspond with the size of the horse ; it should be of good quality 

 and must not be unduly small at knee or hock. Symmetry of form 

 is necessary for strength, correct proportions, and perfect devel- 

 opment. 



In order that there may not be an undue amount of concussion 

 which would produce soreness or disease and render the period of 

 usefulness of the horse short, he should have an oblique shoulder, 

 a rather short cannon, a moderately long pastern set at an angle of 

 about 45 degrees. The hind pastern should be less oblique than 

 the front pastern with no tendency toward a conformation known 

 as coon footed (long and very low pasterns). The foot should be of 

 good size, the horn dense, the heel wide and high, permitting a 

 large healthy frog to serve as a cushion in breaking concussion. 

 Side bones are an unsoundness found most commonly on heavy 

 horses. They are more often found on a horse with a straight 

 shoulder, a short, straight pastern, and a narrow hoof head, as 

 horsemen would say, a post leg that produces stilted action. Since 

 the forequarters or front limbs of a horse carry the greater part of 

 the horse's weight they are often termed the weight carriers, and the 

 hind quarters the propellers. Because of this fact the set of the 

 shoulder, pastern, and foot is of great importance and should pos- 

 sess enough obliquity to give a free, easy movement to the action. 



