54 DRIVING. 



will desire to know what the horse which he proposes to pur- 

 chase should look like ; secondly, what price ought to be paid 

 for it, and, lastly, how he should treat it, and what work he 

 may expect it to do. 



Many of the points and qualifications of a hunter are equally 

 desirable in the carriage-horse ; but, inasmuch as the latter is not 

 called upon to take any weight upon his back, it obviously is 

 not necessary that his bones should be as big and as strong as 

 an animal which is expected to carry fourteen or fifteen stone 

 across country. Many a horse with straight shoulders and weak 

 points which would lead to its rejection as a hunter might prove 

 a serviceable, and even pass as a good-looking, harness horse. 

 The value of a carriage-horse, therefore, is considerably less 

 than that of a hunter. Perfection is scarcely attainable, and 

 any approach to it is, of course, enormously expensive ; as a 

 general rule, it may be said that the purchaser should seek rather 

 for a horse with as few bad points as possible than for one with 

 a great number of good points. Everything about a horse 

 should be in proportion ; for instance, an animal with a big 

 frame on light legs is likely soon to wear out the means 

 which nature has given him to carry himself. The head should 

 be small, broad across the forehead, and well-cut, the nose not 

 projecting or ' Roman.' The eyes should be prominent, so as to 

 give a wide range of sight, and should not show too much of the 

 white, which is supposed to denote a tendency to vice ; the neck 

 should be light, not too long, and the head so set on that the 

 horse can carry it slightly bent, but neither pointing his nose 

 straight out in front of him nor up in the air. The shoulder is of 

 less importance for a harness than for a riding horse, but both 

 bones should be placed at their proper angle, and the point 

 of the shoulder should be nearly in a line with the point of the 

 toe. The chest should be both deep and broad, giving full 

 room for the vital parts of the animal. The upper bone of the 

 leg should be large and thick, and longer in proportion than 

 the lower bone ; muscular development should also be sought. 

 The lower bone of the leg should be perfectly straight between 



