26 THE HORSE 



action is more or less one that must depend upon 

 the rider and his views, for the elderly gentleman 

 in search of a smooth-actioned park hack would 

 shrink in horror from a high-actioned Hackney such 

 as would delight his son. A great point that should 

 be kept before a man who is watching a horse move 

 with a view of purchasing the animal is to satisfy 

 himself that the action is true all round. A horse 

 that gets away in front and leaves his hind legs 

 behind him owing to an inability to tuck his hocks 

 under his body, is not the sort that could by any 

 possibility be described as a good mover. Then, too, 

 there is the flashy mover in front — all action and no 

 go — which lifts his knees almost as high as his bit, 

 and smashes his feet down in nearly the same place 

 as he took them up from. This is, of course, a flat 

 catcher pure and simple, and if his action is watched 

 it will be found that he does not use his shoulders, 

 whilst in the majority of instances he has none to 

 use. Short, straight shoulders and upright pasterns 

 are never good, and a shelly middle-piece which 

 provides no room for the heart and lungs are always 

 to be avoided. A narrow chest is usually associated 

 with speed, but if an animal is as narrow-chested as 

 the famous mare Crucifix, which was so phenomen- 

 ally formed in this respect that she would fall whilst 

 galloping as a foal^ he will never be fit for much 

 exertion unless he has plenty of depth about him to 

 make up for the deficiency of breadth. 



It would be useless to attempt to expatiate upon 

 the artifices resorted to by unprincipled persons to 

 conceal the infirmities of their horses, as a volume as 

 bulky as an encyclopaedia might be filled by exposures 

 of such malpractices, and then the beginner would 

 be very little better off, as he would be still deficient 

 in experience to detect them. Consequently he, it 

 may be repeated, will be acting wisely in availing 

 himself of the services of a qualified veterinary 



