THE 



HORSE-KEEPER'S GUIDE 



CHAPTER? 



VARIED FORM OF THE HORSE. 



He who wants a horse, and wishes to avoid disappoint- 

 ment, would do well, before he goes to market, to liave 

 m.ade up his mind as to the work he requires him to per- 

 form ; and seriously ask himself this question — " What 

 sort of a hoi-se do I -want 1 do I require speed, strength, or 

 show 1" Let him rest satisfied if he obtain the one leading 

 requisite, and bear in mind the important fact, that the 

 very qualities which render him pre-eminently calculated 

 for a particular service, unfit him for others. 



Every horse is suitable for some purpose, and the proof 

 of judicious discrimination in a purchaser, is so to choose 

 his horse, that he shall be the most suitable for the duty he 

 will have to perform. 



Nature and art, by striking and great variations in the 

 structure and proportions of the horse, appear to have 

 pointed out the station which the different tribes of this 

 most valuable servant are each destined to fulfil ; yet man 

 too often persists in slighting these great principles; and 

 hence, mortification, expense, and discomfort await his 

 perversity, in not making himself acquainted, as far as lies 

 in his power, with the lesson placed before him. Not one 

 horse in a thousand is equally well adapted for saddle and 

 harness, for speed and strength ; and we shall here endea- 

 vour to put the reader in possession of the principles up- 

 (237) 



