HOW TO KNOW HOI. 9 



casual examination of the subject, that the slightest 

 alteration in temperament makes a corresponding altera- 

 tion in the power and efficiency of every individual 

 part. A horse does not draw by virtue of his weight, 

 nor in proportion to his size. The public scales and the 

 measuring-tape can never assure us how much a horse 

 can draw, or how many miles he can pull a wagon and 

 its owner in a day. Muscular action and nerve-force 

 must be considered ; and these are both closely allied 

 to, and dependent on, the temperament of the animal. 

 The well-bred horse, inch for inch, and pound for 

 pound, is far stronger than the dray-horse ; and old 

 Justin Morgan, the founder of the most wonderful 

 family of horses (all things being considered) this or 

 any country ever saw, could draw logs that horses of 

 twelve and thirteen hundred pounds could not even 

 start, albeit he weighed only about nine hundred 

 pounds, and stood barely fourteen and a half hands 

 high. It is the amount of vital force, that at the end of 

 a stick of timber, or a weary day's journey on a heavy 

 road, tells the story. 



Having ascertained the temperament of a horse (that 

 is, the inner characteristics of his nature and being), 

 let us now examine the outward conformation, and those 

 physical marks which meet the eye of the buyer. What 

 is that /orm, and what should be the shape and relation, 

 one with another, of the several parts of the body, in 

 order to secure in the highest degree the things most to 

 be desired in a horse ? Let us begin, then, to pass in 



