THE PERFECT HORSE. 



CHAPTER I. 



POINTS OP A HORSE, OR THE MARKS BY WHICH A 

 GOOD HORSE IS KNOWN. 



To a young man starting out in the business of 

 breeding, or to any person about to purchase a horse, 

 nothing can be of greater value than the knowledge of 

 those points or marks which characterize a perfect 

 animal. Not that all of these desirable qualities of 

 bone, muscle, and nervous organization, can be found 

 once in a thousand times combined in any single animal ; 

 for the perfect form in any order of life is rarely if ever 

 seen. But, nevertheless, a standard is needed by which 

 the buyer may measure the several animals inspected, 

 in order to ascertain where to place them in the column 

 that represents aggregate excellence, else his blunders 

 will be many and mortifying. The question arises, 

 therefore, — and it is of the most practical significance to 

 the young breeder and general purchaser, — Is there any 

 standard or representative horse, the marks of which, 



