2 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



the professional men whom he gave to the agricultural world. He 

 desired that they should be well acquainted with and appreciate the 

 qualities and the defects of this merchandise, which every day gained 

 more importance and acquired a greater value. The inauguration of 

 instruction upon the exterwr dates from this period. 



Its object is to enable the scholar to determine by a rapid examina- 

 tion of the form of a horse his 7-elative commercial value in the service in 

 which he is to be employed. In 1837/ H. Bouley had already stated its 

 object as follows : 



" Given the external conformation of an animal, we determine the 

 service in which he may be employed and estimate the amount and 

 duration of the effects which his machinery is capable of producing." 

 This study, we see, is only a branch of zootechnics, but differs from 

 the latter in that it does not seek the conditions for the amelioration 

 of the equine races. It is intended, rather, to be a guide in the choice 

 of an animal at the sale. Its impoi-tance to the horseman is such that 

 the necessity of forming a distinct course for its study and devoting 

 to it extended investigations is understood. This study is, then, es- 

 pecially an applied science, and it is therefore indispensable before 

 entering upon it to have a certain knowledge of anatomy, physiology, 

 mechanics, physics, hygiene, zootechnics, and pathology. 



In order to be able to understand it well, its theory should first be 

 learned. A knowledge of the horse is a problem full of difficulties 

 when its application is to be made to any given animal. It is only 

 through constant habit that we can succeed in forming by a rapid 

 examination a good judgment of his value as a beast of service. No 

 doubt this result may be obtained without having undertaken ana- 

 tomical and physiological studies. It is sufficient to possess what 

 tradesmen call judgment, a glance of the eye ; but this is only acquired 

 by long practice. We all know what perfection in this respect is 

 acquired by certain persons quite ignorant of the sciences which are 

 applied to the exterior. The officers of our remounts, of our studs, even 

 simple horse-dealers, astonish us sometimes by the rapidity with which 

 they see in a horse the weak point, the defect, and the blemish ; they 

 have, moreover, that veritable tact of knowing how to adapt them- 

 selves, in their purchases, to the exigencies, modes, and fancies of the 

 times. However, the time which it has taken them to obtain this 

 result must be considered. Theoretical ideas have precisely the effect 

 of shortening this time ; they are, for beginners, aids which experience 



> Maison rustique du XIX* si^cle, t. ii. 



