434 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



simply diminishes his mechanical a})titudes, and, for this reason, his 

 valne. It is in the latter case that the system of compensations can be 

 a valuable aid, for it enables us to appreciate accurately the degree of 

 ada})tation of the horse to the end for which he is destined. 



Eye and Judgment. — But those who must decide upon the 

 qualities or defects of the horse have not always the necessary (jualifi- 

 cations for the solution of this problem. As a matter of fact, they 

 must be endowed with certain natural aptitudes in order to perceive 

 readily the relations of the parts and of the whole, and to discern and 

 recognize them promptly ; they needs must have the faculty to a})preci- 

 ate, without previous preparation, the good or the bad, the beauty or 

 the ugliness of the form which strikes their eyes. This, in technical 

 language, is called the eye. It results, more especially, from an innate, 

 peculiar, exceptional acuteness of their senses, which enables them to 

 see exactly that which others would require a much longer time to find, 

 and perhaps would never distinguish. 



The eye is not only a special gift of a delicate nature ; it also results 

 from education and experience, and on this account it may be acquired, 

 like all other attributes of the kind. We would therefore suggest to 

 those who desire to acquire a thorough knowledge of the horse, that 

 they perfect their senses and exercise them by intelligent and patient 

 observation, and examine the same types over and over again until the 

 mind preserves a clear, perfect image of the very variable combinations 

 which characterize them. 



But the aptitude to see vividly the external conformation is in 

 itself powerless, perfect as it may be, to constitute the true comioisseur. 

 The latter must, besides, possess a keen and sure judgment in order to 

 duly appreciate the degrees, the shades, to avoid the variations of too 

 excitable a temj>erament, to weigh, in a suitable manner, without an 

 nnguarded impulse or without excessive reserve, the influence of the 

 good qualities and of the defects. One is not born a man of tact, 

 one becomes such ; for the faculty of judging rightly and accurately, 

 of expressing our mind upon the suitableness or tlie unsuitableness of 

 things, implies comparison, attention, reflection, habit, intelligence, and 

 a well-balanced mind. 



Taste, Prejudice, Fashion. — Everybody does not judge of a 

 horse in the same manner, and the opinions of some are neither as 

 reliable nor as judicious as those of others. Whence arise differences, 

 the principal reason of which depends upon the causes which influence 

 the judgment. Among these we will cite more particularly taste, 

 prejudice, and fashion. 



