34 Cross Country with Horse and Hound 



four-year-olds more often than in horses of six and seven 

 years. They usually disappear by absorption. That a young 

 horse has them is as much to his credit as it is for a child 

 to have the measles or chicken-pox. 



Splints, and curbs too, lame a horse sometimes when they 

 first appear. Do not condemn a horse with sickle hocks if 

 there is plenty of bone. They are very often found on the 

 most powerful jumpers. 



Do not require a hunter to be too short-coupled. This 

 is another threadbare sign that is always quoted as desirable. 

 If a horse is to gallop he must have length somewhere. 

 If he has a short top line or coupling, he must have length 

 underneath or he cannot stride away. There must be room 

 to get the stifles forward, or you will have a short choppy- 

 gaited horse, and a most uncomfortable one. The short 

 back is well enough theoretically, but not in practice. 

 Three and even four inches between the last rib and hip 

 are not too much, unless the horse has a weak loin. A 

 light, slack loin is to be avoided in a horse, whether his 

 back be long or short. 



A horse is usually as long in the body as he is high from 

 the ground to the top of the withers. In many standard 

 bred trotters and in some thoroughbreds length exceeds 

 height. This proportion is also desirable in a hunter. 



A well-formed horse usually measures as far from the 

 top of the withers to the under side of the body just back 

 of the fore legs as he does from that point to the ground. 

 If there is any difference in this measurement, let it be 

 added to the body, not to the legs. A sixteen-and-one 



