42 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



others a short one. He adds, witli much prudence, that good judgment 

 does not approve of an excess of length, and tliat this organ, being an 

 integral part of the head, should be in proportion with it. It is a fact 

 worthy of remark, that horses in which they are short are usually 

 energetic and courageous. We must also add that small ears diminish 

 the apparent size of the head, render the physiognomy more pleasant 

 and expressive, and brighten the eye. In this respect the Aryan horse 

 has greatly influenced the English thoroughbred ; the Boidonnais, the 

 Flemish ; the Irish, the Percheron, etc. 



2. Thickness. — The thickness of the ear denotes the quality 

 of the race and of the subject. This is indicated by several other 

 organs which in addition reveal clearly his origin. When the skin of 

 the concha is thick, and garnished on the inside with numerous long 

 hairs, when the subcutaneous connective tissue is abundant and obliter- 

 ates the blood-vessels and nerves, we have evidences that the subject is 

 common and lymphatic. A concha small, firm, and elastic, covered 

 by a skin fine and adherent, with fine and scanty hairs in the interior, 

 and blood-vessels well, outlined, characterizes an animal of distin- 

 guished ancestry. This is so well known to horse-merchants that they 

 never fail to tamper with the hairs of the ears of common horses in 

 arranging their toilet prior to offering them for sale. 



3. Situation. — The situation of the ear merits consideration. 

 Its distance to one side of the median line, though dependent in part 

 upon the development of the muscles of this region, allows us to appre- 

 ciate, to a certain degree, the width of the cranial cavity. If this 

 separation gives more expression to the head and presages greater intel- 

 ligence, it is nevertheless necessarv to guard ourselves against an error 

 of which we have spoken, in according to this character more impor- 

 tance than it deserves. The same argument applies to ears situated too 

 high ; they have an unpleasant effect on the eye and are often an index 

 of a timid and sulky disposition. 



4. Direction and Movements. — It is considered a mark of 

 beauty if a horse freely directs his ears to an angle of about forty- 

 five degrees with the axis of the head. It is thus that they present 

 themselves in active and energetic subjects : if, besides, they are short 

 and well placed, they are designated as bold or cunning. 



Ordinarily they are moved in various directions to receive sound- 

 waves, by means of which the animal obtains a direct knowledge of 

 certain conditions of the exterior. Animals in which the ears are 

 motionless are sluggish and indolent or, what is more serious, suifer 

 from a variable degree of deafness. 



