CHOICE OF THE HORSE. 901 



judicious selection of the parts upon which he bases the result of his 

 examination. For this purpose our colleague has endeavored to formu- 

 late for each type of utilization a special table, on which the particular 

 aptitudes to be noted are enumerated and numbered according to their 

 relative importance. 



It is evident that every experienced horseman will have his own 

 way of interpreting different things. But as in such cases opinions 

 are always divergent, we shall not enter into the details of the pro- 

 posed systems, their value depending, in our opinion, on the judicious 

 use which is made of them. 



Up to the present time the methods of notation applied by begin- 

 ners to a single individual do not seem to have given the results that 

 had been hoped for. 



The reason is first that they are not in vogue in our present prac- 

 tice, the fact of taking notes upon a horse on the show-ground being 

 looked upon, and not without reason, as a sign of inexperience. 



Finally, they are still open, for aught we know to the contrary, to 

 one or the other of these two objections : 



Either they have a tendency to limit the examination to too small 

 a number of regions, or, on the contrary, they make it cover too com- 

 plicated groups of parts or of characters. 



In the first case, aiming at excessive simplification, they become 

 manifestly insufficient, inasmuch as they expose one to neglect a certain 

 number of important beauties or defects, and thus lead to erroneous 

 conclusions. In the second case, they embrace too many points, and 

 thus lose their simplifying character, leaving the student as much 

 puzzled as he was originally. 



The difficulty, then, is to find a system free from these exaggera- 

 tions. 



But, however perfect a method of notation may be, it cannot prove 

 a substitute for a thorough analysis of the parts. To render it useful, 

 it is necessary to practise it often, and consequently to observe much, 

 and to go patiently through the different operations which it implies. 

 This, above all, should never be forgotten. 



§ 4. Horses mated or paired. 



When horses are chosen with a view to forming harmonious and 

 identical groups, at least with reference to form, height, weight and 

 bulk, breeding, coat, and age, they are said to be mated or paired ; and, 

 as breeders and dealers experience much difficulty in obtaining horses 



