THE HEAD. 15 



animal. It is easy to judge from it whether activity 

 or sluggishness prevails most. 



The ears should be long, fine, and very active. 

 They ought to be firmly and rather closely set on the 

 top of the head. If they are coarse, wide apart, low- 

 set, and di'ooping, they ^vill give a nasty, indolent, and 

 heavy appearance to the horse. There could be no 

 greater ornament than long, fine, active-looking, up- 

 right, tolerably close-set ears, with the points a little 

 inclined towards each other. I never saw a soft-con- 

 stitutioned horse mth ears of this description. 



An examination of the ears, eyes, and lips will en- 

 able us to estimate the temperament of the horse A^ith 

 a tolerable degi'ce of accuracy. The colour of the 

 hair should also be taken into account, although it 

 has frequently been said that a good horse is never of 

 a bad colom*, or, in plainer language, that it matters 

 not, beyond the mere item of taste, what his colour 

 may be. This, I imagine, is a decided mistake, as 

 the colour of the hau- has as much to do with the tem- 

 perament of the horse as it has with the temperament 

 of a man. Observation has led the public to this con- 

 clusion practically, as is proved by the every-day say- 

 ing, that such or such a horse is of a hw^dy colour. 

 How seldom do we find a jet black or a wishy-washy 

 chestnut with as much pluck as a rich chestnut, a 

 deep-blood bay, or a dark brown ! The former co- 

 lours are generally connected with soft, scrofulous con- 



