26 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



and continuance. The stretching of the ears in con- 

 trary directions shows that he is attentive to every 

 thing that is passing round him ; and while he is 

 doing this he cannot be much fatigued, or likely soon 

 to become so. It has been remarked, that few horses 

 sleep without pointing one ear forward and the other 

 backward, in order that they may receive notice of 

 the approach of objects in every direction. When 

 horses or mules march in company at night, those in 

 front direct their ears forward, those in the rear 

 direct them backward, and those in the centre turn 

 them laterally or across ; the whole troop seeming 

 thus to be actuated by one feeling which watches the 

 general safety. 



The ear of the horse is one of the most beautiful 

 parts about him, and by few things is the temper 

 more surely indicated than by its motion. The ear 

 is more intelligible even than the eye ; and a person 

 accustomed to the horse can tell, by the expressive 

 motion of that organ, almost all that he thinks or 

 means. When a horSe lays his ears flat back on his 

 neck, he most assuredly is meditating mischief, and 

 the stander by should beware of his heels or his teeth. 

 In play the ears will be laid back, but not so de- 

 cidedly or so long. A quick change in their position, 

 and more particularly the expression of the eye at 



