No. 4.] THE HORSE. 119 



very little mane ; a heavy, coarse mane means a low-bred 

 horse. 



We measure a horse's height in "hands," a hand being 

 four inches ; the height is taken at the withers. Among the 

 absurdities of our horsemanship is the custom of describing 

 horses hy weight. Advertisements of horses for sale rarely 

 give the height, but invariably give a guess at the weight, 

 as if that was a fixed condition. When a horse has reached 

 maturity he is as high as he ever will be and will remain 

 there, but he may weigh ten hundred under one master and 

 eleven hundred under another, and be a better horse at the 

 lio-hter weight. 



Horses under fourteen hands are but ponies. Fifteen 

 hands describes a small horse, but then inches begin to tell. 

 Sixteen hands is a full, grand height for a horse, and when 

 the animal is well-proportioned and has good action it is the 

 best size for all uses. 



Small horses are very useful for hilly roads and constant 

 work, l)ut they never bring a high price. A horse above 

 sixteen hands is overgrown, though several great race horses 

 have been sixteen hands two inches. Some horses are high 

 at the withers; others are low and mule-like, with a high 

 croup. In such cases ascertain the elevation of each part and 

 take the mean of the two measurements. 



There is an old proverb which says, "A good horse is 

 never of a bad color." Horses are so varied in color, even 

 in the same families, and display such excellence under any 

 skin, that one cannot say with truth that one color is better 

 than another. Like men, they are divided into nervous, 

 bilious, sanguine and lymphatic temperaments, or into 

 blended temperaments in which one characteristic predomi- 

 nates ; but such a horse may be of any color. The Arabs 

 vary through all shades. Gray, white and chestnut are 

 the most prized color among the Bedouins, as indicating 

 greater intellio;ence and higher courao;e. 



Lady Anne Blunt, a great traveller in Asia and familiar 

 with all the wandering tribes of the Euphrates, likes the bay 

 Arabian best. She has seen a few blacks, but never one 

 that she would choose. Piebald and spotted Arabians are 

 only seen in the circus, never in Asia. The English and 



