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MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



gree of affection for him. Every liorso if? adapt- 

 ed to some ])articular purpose ; ibr horscn not 

 only differ in kind, but, liliu mou, in utility, in 

 temper, in stamina, &c., and the selection of 

 them, in regard to tliese particulars!, constitutes 

 one of the most arduous and nicest duties of the 

 connalsaeur ; ho must readily acknowledge 

 good or bad conformation — trace genealogj- in 

 the outline, and discover a.je ne sa/s qnoi about 

 the lout ensemble that denotes good or bad in- 

 Btinctive and unalterable qualities. 



In describing the good and bad points of a 

 horse, it will be necessary to make use of many 

 terms, denoting diflerent external parts, ■which, 

 to all horsemen will not re(iuire any explana- 

 tion ; lest, however, the reader be unacquainted 

 with some of those terms, a plate is annexed, 

 having references to the parts themselves in the 

 figure of a horse. It requires some experience, 

 but more attentive observation, to be what, in 

 modern horse-phraseology, is called a good 

 judge; i. e. (if we were asked to define a good 

 judge,) to know, at once, by a cast of the eye, 

 whether the nag, as soon as he is pulled out, is 

 likely to suit : is he cut out for a hackney, or is 

 he calculated for harness ? Does he look like a 

 hunter, or has he any good looks about him '/ 

 Does he shovj any blood, or is he all over a 

 mongrel 1 In fine, is he the sort of thing jou 

 want, or won't ho do until he meets with a 

 greenhorn I These, and various other import- 

 attt sousidcralions we hope to nnravel the na- 

 ture of in the course of this inquiry, offering 

 such remarks, from time to time, as may prove 

 of practical service to the young and inexperi- 

 enced horseman. At first sight of a horse, a 

 judge takes a general survey of him, and if he 

 observe any apparent disproportion or defonnity . 

 his attention is at once fixed to that particular 

 point. Every horse, for example, that is tol- 

 erably well formed, should exhibit due propor- 

 tions of limb and carcass ; in fact, nine out of 

 ten have as much carcass as is equal to the area 

 of the space occupied by the legs in ordinary 

 standing ; but should his legs be extraordinarily 

 long, or his carcass disproportionately .small, he 

 is said to have too much daylight under hivi, 

 and that is certainly no mean objection. Should 

 his head be very large, his neck of dispropor- 

 tionate length, his fore legs stand under him, 

 or his quarters heragged and nglj-, such glaring 

 imperfections cannot fail to attract our notice as 

 soon as, or even before, the groom has set him 

 on his legs. But we shall have occasion to par- 

 ticularize these things in a detail of the perfec- 

 tions and imperfections of the diflerent parts en- 

 tering into the composition of the animal. 



The exterior of the horse may he divided, for 

 the convenience of thus describing his several 

 parts, into head, neck, body, and legs. First, 

 •we shall delineate a good head. The nob .'should 

 be small. A large head is not only a plai/i 

 head, but a bad point, iua.smuch as it really, un- 

 der certain circumstances, detracts from the 

 powers of the horse ; he has, in fact, more to 

 rurrj- — it is a burden to him, and the only ^^•ay 

 in which he can possibly carry it to advantage, 

 is at tiie extremity of a short and upright neck. 

 Like the weight of a pair of steelyards, if it is 

 supported by a long and horizontal neck, its 

 burden becomes enormously augmented, .so that 

 the weight tnin«milt(Ml to thi- fore extremities fior 

 those parts su|)port the head at.d i.eck as v ell as 

 half the carcass) is much incr.'iised, and. from the 

 natural preponderance of it before, is very likely 

 to prove the csuiso of the iior.'io's falling doun. 



more especially if the rider is heavy, every trip 

 or mis-step he may chance to make. In addi- 

 tion to all this, a lawyer (or big-headed liorse) 

 is apt to have a hard month., or rather, we say, 

 7io month, so that wc arc always apprehensive 

 of his being heavy in hand, and unpleasant to 

 ride. It is proper, however, to state, before we 

 proceed farther, lest we incur censure lor these 

 remarks, that the formation of the neck, and the 

 mode in irhirh the head is set on. and how he 

 carries it, will have much to do v.ith the head 

 being objectionable from its size, and with his 

 being light or heavy in hand ; ibr wc have 

 known many big-headed horses ride veil, and 

 be as safe and as light in hand as any others. 

 Next to size, its shape becomes a consideration. 

 Every feature should give animation to .the 

 countenance ; let the forehead be broad, and 

 Jlat ; the eye staring and full of fire : the ear* 

 thin, fine, and often erect ; the nostrils circular, 

 dilated, and reddened withiii ; the lips soft, 

 thin, and hairless ; the jowl extended, and the 

 cheeks kcU marked. 



" Fire from his eyes, clouds from his nostrils, flow." 



This, at least, is what we would have it in the 

 thorough-bred, and as a general rule, the nearer 

 that of any other description of hor.se approaches 

 to it, the better \\\e family he springs from, and 

 the more sanguine we may be in our prognostic 

 of his abilities. That such a hor.«e looks like a 

 sticker, or is a. perfect gentleman about his nob, 

 are no uncommon nor very unmeaning expres- 

 sions in the mouths o{ sportsmen and copers. But 

 his bend may be very long, or it may be very 

 short, though we do not know that either is 

 particularly objectionable, except as an eye-sore, 

 if the countenance is .somethine: like what we 

 have just described ; unless he be a Yorkshire- 

 man, and then, certainly, we should not fall in 

 love with such a big canister. The race ought 

 to be perfectly straight, (sec plate,) and the 

 muzzle, in the blood horse, square, and such as 

 will zo into a pint pot : a Koman nose (one in 

 which the race is curved) is by no means de- 

 sirable, though his napper be but of ordinary 

 dimensions ; it is seen mon; commonly, how- 

 ever, in a big head, which it, in a side view, 

 makes ajijiear not only much larger. I)ut ex- 

 ceeiliiigly ugly ; this may be said to constitute 

 a. plain Ycrkshirc head. Withal, the head, to 

 render it handsome, .should he veil .«</ on; its 

 junction with the neck should form a sort of 

 curve, so as to leave ample space in th(> throat 

 for a hu'ge and prominent crullet. by which we 

 may judge him to be a good-trinded horse. 



The neck now demands our attention : if 

 good, the crest will form an arch of agreeable 

 curve from ihc poll to the n-ithers, 



'■ With neck like a rainbow, erecting his crept." 



It will be of proportionate length, and progress- 

 ive increa.se in breadth, as it approaches the 

 chest. A long neck, if it be .'Straight, or but 

 little curved, is objectionable, for reasons we 

 stated when speaking of a large head : a short 

 one, however excellent it may he on the princi- 

 ple of the steelyards, is never handsorne and 

 seldom exists without rendering even a good 

 hackney piggish. That short-necked horses are 

 better winded than others, because the air has 

 less distance to pass to and from the lungs, is 

 ;iu opiniini to which we caiiiiot subscribe. Th': 

 nick should al.M) be thin, not thick and heavy, 

 and rounded and straight along its loirer mar- 

 gin : should the canal ct tlic Jugular vfiii be- 



