HEAD AND NECK. 



Although increased size naturally directs attention to 

 this peculiarity ; lop ears are not necessarily large ears. 

 A lop-eared horse is quite as capable of pricking his ears- 

 forward (Fig. 305) as any other horse ; but, having 

 done so, he generally allows them to fall back into their 

 accustomed pendulous position. Lop-eared horses are 

 generally supposed to be more placid in disposition, if 

 not more sluggish, than their fellows. 



The forelock is the front continuation of the mane. 

 It grows between the ears, and for a short distance down 

 the forehead. When allowed to maintain its natural 

 length (Fig. 306), it is a very useful means of protection 

 for a horse's eyes, against the attacks of flies, and against 

 the rays of the sun, as we may see by the relief, especially 

 during hot weather, which eye-fringes give horses that 

 have been more or less deprived of their forelocks. In fact 

 these natural eye-fringes act better than artificial ones. 

 The great mobility of its hairs prevents it from being an 

 obstruction to the animal's line of sight. 



Eyes. — The eye should be clear and free from tears, 

 the pupil black, and the eyelids thin and comparatively 

 free from wrinkles. A small eye (Fig. 307) in the horse is 

 called a " pig-eye," and is generally considered to denote 

 a disposition that is either sulky or wanting in courage. 

 In this photograph, the straight shoulder, ewe neck, Roman 

 nose and pig-eye point to the plebeian origin of the animal 

 whose portrait it is. The prominent " buck-eye " is gene- 

 rally regarded as an unfailing sign of short sight, which 

 is, however, a very rare defect in horses. Horses which 

 show a good deal of white in their eyes, as the term 

 is, are usually suspected of being vicious ; and kickers, 

 as a rule, uncover a portion of the white of the eye (on the 

 side to which the head is turned) when they look back 

 ready to " let fly." This suspicion is naturally heightened,, 

 if, at the same time that the danger signal in the eye is 



