GOOD POINTS.] 



THE HOESE, AND 



Fgood points. 



auimal. He lias, in fact, more to carry. It is 

 a burden to him ; and the only way in which he 

 can possibly carry it to advantage, is at the 

 extremity of a short and upright neck. Next 

 to size, its shape becomes a consideration. 

 The forehead should be broad and flat, the 

 eye staring and full of tire ; the ears thin, fine, 

 and often erect ; the nostrils circular, dilated, 

 and reddened within ; the lips soft, thin, and 

 hairless ; the jowl extended, and the cheeks 

 well marked. This, at least, is what it should 

 be in the thorough-bred ; and, as a general 

 rule, the nearer any other description of horse 

 approaches to this, the better is the family he 

 springs from, and the more sanguine we may 

 be in determining the extent, variety, and ex- 

 cellence of his qualities. 



After the head comes the neck, which, if 

 good, will make the crest form an arch, or 

 agreeable curve, frona the poll to the withers. 

 It will be of proportionate length, and will 

 progressively increase in breadth as it ap- 

 proaches the chest. A long neck, if it is 

 straight, or but little curved, is objectionable. 

 It has been said that short-necked horses are 

 better winded than others, because the air has 

 less distance to pass to and from the lungs ; 

 but it is an opinion to which little deference 

 may be paid. The neck should be thin — at 

 least, not thick and heavy — and rounded and 

 straight along its lower margin. Should the 

 canal of the jugular vein be deep, and the 

 windpipe full and prominent below it, we mav 

 regard it as a sign of good wind. If the arch 

 of the neck is reversed, i. e., below instead of 

 above, and the crest, or what ought to be the 

 crest, near the withers, is hollow and sunken, 

 the animal is, as we have before observed, said 

 to be "ewe-necked," which is one of the 

 greatest natural deformities common to these 

 parts. Under such circumstances, it is usual 

 for a dealer to say that " the neck is put on 

 the wrong side upwards;" but, in reality, it 

 appears to arise from its junction with the 

 chest being too low down. 



Of all the points of a horse, the shoulder, 

 for a hackney or a hunter, is of the utmost 

 consequence. Without a good shoulder, no 

 animal can ride well. He may be a good 

 harness-horse, or he may race well, but it is 

 physically impossible for him to carry his rider 

 with ease and pleasure on the road. But how 

 15G 



are we to know what it is that constitutes a 

 good shoulder, and what it is that makes it 

 a bad one ? To instruct the reader upon 

 these points, it will be necessary to say some- 

 thing on its internal mechanism. The scapulas' 

 or shoulder-blades, are attached to the ribs by 

 many powerful muscles, which move them, 

 during the action of the auimal, round their 

 own axes ; or, at least, in a very similar way ; 

 and though, they can only revolve through the 

 small segment of a circle, that segment is 

 greater in proportion as they are more ob- 

 liquely placed against the sides of the chest ; 

 hence it will be seen, that what is called an 

 oblique shoulder, is most advantageous for 

 motion. It is said, that the best shouldered 

 animals have generally thin withers ; but this 

 anatomical condition is not indispensably 

 necessary to the formation of a good shoulder, 

 although we are aware that there are some 

 judges of a contrary opinion. If, in viewing 

 the fore parts of a horse, we find he rises upon 

 the withers, and that no traces of his blade- 

 bone can be seen under the skin, but that all 

 appears smooth and level, we may conclude 

 that the shoulder is oblique. A more certain 

 proof of this, however, will be found by carry- 

 ing the eye from the top of the withers to the 

 extremity of the point of the shoulder. If it 

 is upright, or nearly so, unless it be in a 

 thorough-bred horse, such an animal is only 

 fit for the collar. That horses have been fast 

 runners on the turf with bad shoulders, is no 

 proof that they would not have galloped 

 better with good ones ; and we must recollect, 

 that, in a racer, the hind quarters are con- 

 sidered of primary importance. On the road, 

 however, we know that bad shouldered animals 

 are neither pleasant nor safe hackneys. They 

 step short ; are puddling walkers ; roll about 

 in the trot, and are exceedingly liable to fall. 



Tlie fore legs, Mhen viewed laterally, should 

 descend in a straight line from the bottom of 

 the shoulder; but when seen in front, they 

 ouiiht to incline ccutlv inwards. If the elbow 

 projects directly backwards, and the toe points 

 with precision forwards, we may rest satisfied 

 that the horse is not twisted in his fore legs. 

 Turning the toe in or out in standing, is apt 

 to be accompanied with distortion, or de- 

 formity of the limb. Tliis circumstance, 

 therefore, is seldom seen without materially 



