XENOPHO.VS INSTRUCTIONS. 23 



hoofs (that is, concave or hollow-soled hoofs) raise what 

 is called the frog (^sXi^ovoc) far above the ground ; and 

 low ones tread equally on the strongest and weakest parts 

 of the foot, like in-kneed men, or like cripples among 

 men, who limp on parts which were never intended by- 

 nature to support them.' Simo ^ says that horses which 

 liave good feet may be known by the sound; and he says 

 this with great justice, for a hollow lioof rings against the 

 ground like a cymbal.' It is somewhat strange to find 

 Markham, in the 17th century, laying stress on this 

 sounding property of a good hoof: 'If a horse's hoofs be 

 rugged, and as it were seamed one seam over another, 

 and many seams ; if they be dry, full and crusty, or 

 crumbling, it is a sign of very old age : and on the con- 

 trary part, a smooth, moist, holloiv, and ic ell-sounding hoof 

 is a sign of young years.' ^ 



Xenophon continues: 'As attention must be paid to 

 the horse's food and exercise, that his body may be vigor- 

 ous, so must care be likewise taken of his feet. Damp and 

 smooth stable-floors injure even naturally good hoofs ; 

 and to prevent them from being damp, they ought to be 

 sloping ; to prevent them from being smooth, they should 



' Ot ynp 'Kayilc ttoXv tCjv Xstttuh' Sia(f>ipov(TLy eig tviro^tai'. STreiTa 

 ov^s TOVTO Sel XavOcit'ti)', iruTEpov at VTrXai elai.' v'ipr]Xui ?) Tarrtiyul, kuI 

 tj-iTTpoadey, kcd viziadtr, 1) ■)(^a[.iT]Xnl. al [ley yhp v\l/r]Xal izuppu) uwo ruv 

 hairiZov tj^oucri tov j(^EXIhora KaXnvixirriv, al ^e rcnreiiai cfioiioQ ftahovtri 



TUI TE layvpOTUTU), K(U 7W jJiuXaKOJTClTW TOV TTO^OQ, OJCTK^p 01 fiXaKTol TU)V 



a»'0pw7rwj'.— nEPI 'mniKIIS, Ed. Leunc. p. 932. 



"" Simo, an Athenian, mentioned by Suidas and cited by Pollux, 

 was, according to Pliny, the first who wrote on horsemanship. Some 

 reference to him is made in a fragment of Hierocles, which is hiserted 

 in the De Re Ve ter in arid oi Simon Grynaeus. Basil, 1537. 



3 The Perfect Horseman, p. 129. London, 1655- 



