410 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



In the study of the regions, we have taken care to insist upon the dis- 

 position of the angular openings and upon the proportions of some of 

 their parts, principally of the neck, the shoulder, the arm, the croup, 

 and the thigh. We therefore refer the reader to them. But there is 

 a danger against which we desire to warn him : it is in endeavoring 

 to lighten and improve these animals by crossing injudiciously with 

 races which are too distinguished, too fine ; a certain number of subjects 

 have been produced which are lanky, deficient, especially in the length 

 of their loins, the slight amplitude of their chest, and the weakness of 

 their members. Of course, this defect is not of a nature to cause them 

 to be entirely rejected, since, for their intended utilization, they are not 

 called upon to carry heavy loads. However, they none the less become 

 sway-backed ; as they are used on the paved streets of large cities, their 

 locomotory apparatus will very quickly manifest its weakness by the 

 appearance of numerous blemishes, and by an early ruin of their hocks 

 and their fetlocks. For these reasons, the purchaser should give pref- 

 erence to those motors which are short, more compact, and closer to 

 the ground ; with the same speed as the others, they possess superior 

 endurance, will do more work and at less expense. 



D. Excitability ; Impressionability ; Irritability. 



The normal relations which exist between the living matter and its 

 animating principle, between the physical bulk and the blood, as it is 

 expressed in vulgar language, are not equally balanced in all subjects. 



Excitability that is to say, that faculty which the organism has of 

 showing to the desired degree its activity under the influence of the 

 internal stimulant, the nervous system is of primary importance as the 

 indispensable complement of its mechanism, however perfect it may 

 be, for this faculty renders it eminently adapted to all the exigencies 

 of the external world. The animal which possesses marked excitabil- 

 ity can at once be recognized by his intelligent physiognomy ; his affec- 

 tionate character ; his expressive head ; his delicate, supple, and vascular 

 skin; his hard hoof; his silky, not overabundant, mane; his slender, 

 harmonious form ; his powerful chest ; his firm, dense, well-outlined 

 muscles ; his neat, clean, strong, solid members ; his small, proportioned 

 feet ; his easy, lengthened, brilliant gaits. Gentle and quiet when at 

 rest and during work ; active, energetic, even impetuous, if necessary, 

 always docile ; of a robust constitution, well nourished, adapting him- 

 self without difficulty to the most diverse conditions of existence, he is 

 prompt to begin his task, able to keep up, and ready to resume again 

 on the morrow the work of the day before. 



