SHAPE. 9 



prefer a liorse as nearly square as possible. A long, 

 low horse will jump brooks and drains and other wide 

 jumps the best, and a short, tall one will jump post 

 and rails and stone walls. 



A long, low one will gallop best over flat deep 

 ground, but a shorter horse will get up and down 

 hill and over ridge and furrow better. 



A square horse, being between the other two, will 

 be the best at all-round work ; that is, he will jump 

 brooks and gallop through dirt better than a tall, 

 short horse, and will go up and down hill better 

 than a long, low one. 



Looking at a horse sideways his neck should 

 form a convex segment of a circle, his back a concave 

 segment, and his loins and thighs a convex segment 

 again, thus : — 



Fig. 1. 



It should be noted here that it is a very common 

 mistake for inexperienced persons, in estimating a 

 horse's shape, to think that he will alter in shape 

 according as he alters in condition. This is a fruit- 

 ful source of disappointment; for although a horse 

 develops considerably with age and condition, still 



