90 ATTITUDES OF THE HORSE. 



the school-horse should carry his head high and the muzzle 

 well advanced out of the perpendicular. If the head be 

 carried too high ; forward reach will be proportionately 

 sacrificed to upward shoulder action, with consequent 

 loss of speed. Hence, hunters, animals that require to be 

 clever over bad ground, such as pig-stickers and Colonial 

 stock horses, and those in which showy action is sought, 

 such as chargers, school-horses, and park-hacks, should 

 carry their heads higher than animals in which speed is 

 the chief consideration. The more the fore legs are 

 lifted by the play of the shoulders, and not by the mere 

 raising of the knees ; the safer, more brilliant, less 

 fatiguing, and faster will the action be in ev^ery class of 

 horse. 



The chief muscle which draws the fore limb (of each 

 side) forward and upward, is attached by one end to the 

 humerus and by the other to the top of the head. Other 

 muscles that draw the shoulder-blade forward and upward, 

 are attached to it and to the ligament of the neck, which 

 stretches from the withers to the top of the head (p. 39). 

 As muscles act best when their points of attachment are 

 wide apart ; the horse, during rapid movement, regulates, 

 under normal conditions, the amount of the extension 

 of his neck, according to the speed at which he is going. 

 In this case, the head and neck are the fixed point ; the 

 fore limb, the movable one. As long, therefore; as the 

 speed of any particular pace remains uniform, the length 

 of the neck (measured roughly from withers to top of 

 head; should continue unchanged. Consequently, when 

 riding or di'iving, if we desire the horse to maintain a 

 uniform rate of speed, we should keep a uniform tension 

 on the reins (note, for instance, the fixed position of the 

 hands of a capable lad from a racing stable, when he is 

 riding a steady training-gallop), and should not " give 

 and take " with them. If the speed be increased, the 

 hands, supposing their hold on the reins remains unaltered, 

 should be advanced, as may be required ; if it be de- 



