202 BIGHT ENGLISH NOTIOWS OF A GOOD HORSE. 



Ine pastern joint, going low ; 12th, Wiiether flat-hoofed, with low heels ; 13th, 

 Whether he be not narrow at the hind quarters ; 14th, Whether he has not 

 spavin, windgall, or curb, ring-bone, or thorough-pin, or is likely to cut. Exa- 

 mine his sole and heel for thrush, canker, or corn, and if contraction has taken 

 place." 



Having thus before us the Frenchman's precautions, we come to the Eng- 

 lishman's long accepted description of a good horse, and nothing else. His 

 head ought to be lean, of good size, and long; his jowls thin and open; his 

 ears small and pricked ; or, if they be somewhat long, provided they stand 

 upright like those of the fox, it is usually a sign of mettle and toughness. His 

 forehead long and broad : not marefaced, but rising in the middle like that o* 

 a hare, the feather being placed above the top of his eye, the contrary being 

 thought by some to betoken approaching blindness. His eye full, large, an? 

 bright ; his nostrils wide, and red within ; for an open nostril betokens good 

 wind. His mouth large, deep in the wykes, and hairy. His windpipe big, 

 unconfined, and straight when he is reined in by the bridle, for, if it bends like 

 a bow (or cock-ihrottled), it very much hinders the passage of his wind. His 

 head must be so set upon his neck, that there should be a space felt between 

 the neck and the jowl; for, to be bull-necked is uncomely to sight and preju- 

 dicial to the horse's wind. His crest should be firm, thin, and well-risen ; his 

 neck long and straight, yet not loose and pliant, which our north countrymen 

 term withy cragged ; his breast strong and broad ; his chest deep at the girth, 

 his body of good size and close ribbed up to the stifle ; his ribs round like a 

 barrel, his fillets large, his quarters rather oval than broad, reaching well down 

 to the gaskin'^,. His hock bone upright, not bending ; which some do term 

 sickle-houffLed, and think it denotes fastness and a laster. His legs should 

 be c!ean, nat, and straight ; his joints short, well knit, and upright, especially 

 at the pattern and hoofs, with but little hair at his fetlock ; his hoofs black, 

 strong, and hollow, and rather long and narrow than big and flat. His mane 

 and tail should be long and thin rather than very thick, which some think a 

 mark of dullness. 



Some do aflfect a small head at all hazards, thinking none other belongs to 

 B good horse, but much will depend upon how it is set on ; if that be upon a 

 crane-neck, as usually happens when very small, he will carry unsteady, with 

 tail up as a counterbalance ; and if large head arise from thickness of the jowl, 

 this will also be a real deformity and interfere with his safe going : hard mouth- 

 ed usually accompanies the great big head at the jowl. Expanded forehead 

 is quite a different thing, and belongs to neither of* those objections, but on the 

 contrary is a redeeming sign of good breeding for any kind of faulty head, or 

 long or short, or thick or thin. The crest being slightl)^ curved is always ac- 

 companied by distinctly marked windpipe. No horse with a bad shoulder can 

 carry his rider with ease and pleasure on the road, though a large one be re- 

 quisite for harness, or a very oblique one belong to a speedy horso ; because it 

 is the hind legs that send the animal along, as was eminently the case with 

 Eclipse. See pages 5, 9, 10, of Book I., where many other points to our pre- 

 sent purpose are discussed. 



As to bodily health, also, the reader will not have far to look to enable him- 

 self to judge how any animal is affected which he may desire to purchase. 

 The whole volume now in his hands is devoted to a description of the func- 

 tions of animal life, and of their derangement. 



AGE. 



General appearance bespeaks the age of every animal, to those who have 

 much practice in ascevtainincr that point, and whose interest may be said to 



