•374 THK llOJiSK-Ki.EPER S bUIDE. 



ved any injury of the spine ; if he backs with difficulty, 

 his hind quarters swayincr from side to side, and when 

 compelled to retrogade suddenly he appears as if about to 

 fall, he has received some injury. Some horses cannot be 

 made to back, but when urged rear on their hind legs. 

 His loins should be searched for marks of setons, or blis- 

 ters. AmonfT stal)le men it is termed " chinked in the 

 chine," or, rigged in the hock. 



A singular symptom of diseased spine sometimes shews 

 itself where nothing had been previously suspected ; that 

 is, of sometimes dropping when turned suddenly in the 

 trot, the hinder quarters appearing as if paralyzed ; in one 

 case, after several ineffectual attempts to reproduce it, it 

 was developed by a man startling him from a stable door 

 as he trotted past 't up the ride. 



There are rnany bit.'mishes and defects that render a 

 hack unserviceable, which are of little or no consequence 

 in harness. The gi'eatest virtue in a gig horse is steadiness, 

 ■which can only be ascertained by trial, and do not trust to 

 the steadiness he evinces while the reins are in his owner's 

 hands. The author of that admirable little work, *' The 

 Adventures of a Gentleman in search of a Horse," truly 

 says, " whoever buys a Stanhope horse without first driving 

 him himself, is a fit subject for a commission of lunacy ; it 

 is not enough to put him on the break, he should be har- 

 nessed at once to the Stanhope, and it is prudent to observe 

 how he bears the ceremony of harnessing, and what kind 

 of start he makes. Much may be predicted by his qualifi- 

 cations for draught, or at all events his familiarity with the 

 collar, by the degree of quiet with which he allows himself 

 to be put to. 



" If the ostler runs alongside of him at setting off, as is 

 often the case, you may be sure the horse is distrusted ; if 

 jou distrust it yourself, have nothing to do with him." 



The eyes. — The horse should now be returned to the 

 stable for the puipose of examining his eyes, the most fa- 

 vourable position for which is about half a foot within the 

 stable door. There should be no back or side lights, or 

 the rays, falling between the eyes of the examiner and the 

 animal, will prevent him seeing distinctly. The head should 

 be so placed that a moderate light should fall on the eye 

 of the horse, and the quantity of light can be easily regu 

 latea by bringing the horse's head more or less f»jrward 



