6 CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. 



and that a long neck, by adding to the weight, 

 wears out the legs and feet quicker than a short 

 neck, and also, that it renders the animal more 

 liable to stumble. Judges are very keen on quality 

 in this region, and any tendency towards weediness, 

 is looked upon with disfavour. 



The Withers 



Constitute the point for measuring the height of a 

 horse. Some horses have high withers, others have 

 low. The withers are bounded in front by the 

 mane, behind by the back, and on either side by 

 the upper border of the shoulder-blades. A saddle 

 horse should be high in the withers in order to 

 prevent the saddle from shifting forwards. Race 

 horses are usually high in the withers, and horses 

 that have this conformation are said to stand '' well 

 up before." A purchaser of a horse usually desires 

 the animal to be of some specified height, and 

 expresses his wants to the dealer in accordance 

 with his wish. For instance, let us suj^pose that 

 he requires a horse 15.2. The dealer may then 

 tell him that he has an animal for sale exactly 

 this height, and proceed to measure the horse 

 in the presence of the purchaser, who may be satis- 

 fied as to the correctness of his measurements. The 



