HUNTERS 151 



of good length. A short-necked horse, with his 

 head put on like a pickaxe, is ugly to look at 

 and never bridles well. Though the neck should 

 look symmetrical when seen sideways, when 

 seated in the saddle it should appear swelling 

 with muscle, especially just behind the ears. No 

 horse ever stayed yet with a thin, weak neck. 

 There is one conformation that should especially 

 be guarded against, that is " the roarer's neck." A 

 horse that has otherwise a strong neck, but when 

 held tight by the bridle curves it the wrong way 

 at the throat, something like a cob swan does 

 when he proudly sets his sails before his mate, is 

 certain to go a roarer sooner or later, especially 

 if the throat appears particularly thick, almost 

 swollen in fact. There is no possible escape from 

 the malady for such a horse. This formation 

 seems not uncommon in underbred weight- 

 carriers, and hence probably arises the idea that 

 big horses often go roarers ; and also that turning 

 horses out to grass in the summer-time makes them 

 go wrong in their wind. Horses with properly 

 shaped necks will never go roarers through being 

 allowed access to grass — their natural food — and 

 fresh air. The other sort will become roarers 

 under any treatment. The reason appears to be 

 that the nerve connected with the larynx has un- 

 due strain put upon it through the unnatural curve 

 of the throat, and as it cannot stretch it gradu- 

 ally loses its vitality, and eventually becomes 

 paralysed. 



My attention was directed to this very early in 

 life, as one of the carriage horses had just such a 

 neck, and was a rank roarer. It was impressed 

 upon me then by the old coachman that such 

 necks always ended in roaring, and constant 



