CHAPTER II. 



THE NECK THE HEAD THE MOUTH THE TONGUE 

 CARRIAGE FEELING. 



WE have spoken of the horse's neck as being a lever, 

 which of course, strictly speaking, supposes it to form 

 nearly a straight line, and to possess only a very limited 

 amount of flexibility, neither of which properties, in 

 fact, perfectly belong to it.* But a well-shaped neck, 

 well clothed with firm muscles, possesses both straight- 

 ness and inflexibility sufficient to render it possible to 

 apply to it the theory of lever-action with perfect 

 propriety. Such a neck will only deviate from the 

 straight line to any considerable amount near its point 

 of junction with the head, this latter also acting as a 

 lever, and imparting to the whole that graceful curvature 

 so pleasing to the eye even of the uninitiated which is, 

 however, not merely a matter of taste, being in fact an 

 evidence of perfection of equilibrium and power. 



It is scarcely necessary to say that there are almost 

 infinite varieties of necks to be found amongst horses as 

 regards these two very important items of straightness 



* The horse's neck really forms a double curve, one being turned 

 upward, the other downward ; the mechanical action results in a 

 straight line forming the axis of the whole. 



