LIMIT OF HEIGHT. 



i8i 



pass, say, thirty-four inches in height, without becoming 

 weak in the loins and clumsy in their movements. For 

 cart-horses, this limit may be put at, say, seventeen hands 

 two inches ; and for race-horses at, say, sixteen hands 

 three inches. Besides this maximum, there is a certain 

 height which it is no benefit for a horse, from a useful 

 point of view, to exceed. Although, to employ an old 

 saying, " a good big one will beat a good little one ; " 



Photo hy] 



Pig. 279. — Colonel Simpson's English Racing I'ony, Mike. 



[M. H. H. 



it is no advantage for a racer, chaser, hunter, hack or 

 light trapper to be more than fifteen hands three inches, 

 or a heavy cart-horse to be higher than sixteen hands 

 three inches. It is an interesting fact that this standard 

 of useful height varies considerably in different breeds. 

 It can be put approximately as follows : — European, 

 North American, Australian, and New Zealand thorough- 

 bred and half-bred horses, fifteen hands three inches ; 



