370 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK in. 



hocks and hind legs in quick paces long continued in the dirt unless 

 the hocks be well-shaped, big-boned, and clean, and the hind legs be 

 good, and measure not less than about 9| inches round their smallest 

 part. 



Just as a large mill grinds more material than a small one, so a big- 

 bodied horse eats and digests more food than a horse with a narrow 

 waist, and is therefore enabled, in defiance of severe work, to maintain 

 the thickness of his muscle, without which both strength and courage 

 soon fail him. A horse or any other animal without a good constitution 

 is by no means the servant of mankind, but is rather a pauper invalid 

 on his hands, and no such horse or mare should ever be used for stud 

 purposes. The scapula, or shoulder-blade, should be sloping, and the 

 lower bone of the shoulder, or humerus, is all the better for being 

 placed in a position as near perpendicularity as is possible to breed it. 

 The neck should not be long, but the rider should sit a long way from 

 the horse's ears and require long reins from hand to bit. The length 

 of frontage should be in the shoulders rather than in the neck. The 

 crest should be firm and muscular, with the head hanging at such 

 medium height and angle as will enable the horse to bridle well, and go 

 firmly up to the bit. The head should be long, lean, and blood-like ; 

 but the fulness of the eye, the playfulness of the ear, arid the general 

 cast and expression of countenance are more important than any parti- 

 cular or exact shape of the head. A small head often accompanies a 

 small heart, and unless the latter, together with all blood-vessels, be 

 large and efficient, the horse may do hacking or harness work, but he 

 cannot be a first-flight hunter. 



The arms should be full of muscle the elbows turning neither in 

 nor out the knees strong and big, and the shank clear and hard as 

 polished ivory, and measuring from 8 inches to 8 inches. If less than 

 8 inches the horse may break down, if more than 8| inches he will be 

 slow and cumbrous. The feet should be neither too brittle nor too 

 " fleshy," neither too small nor too big, neither too flat nor too perpen- 

 dicular. They must hold a shoe during three weeks of much exercise, 

 including four days' hunting ; and above all, they must swing clear of 

 opposite fetlocks and all other parts. A horse that "cuts "is at a 

 serious disadvantage in work, and depreciation of value in the open 

 market. 



It matters little whether he be thoroughbred or nearly so, if he can 

 gallop on without tiring in deep ground, and after his exertions drink 

 his gruel, eat his digestible supper of hay and mash, and run out with 

 free clean limbs next morning. All this list of qualifications is heredi- 

 tar}' to a marked degree. 



Manners are also hereditary, and so is. every form of "temper " so 

 called. 



Colour is an important matter. Mahogany brown is as good as any. 

 Then bay or chestnut ; but greys and roans are not so saleable, and 

 should not generally be produced. 



As to the class of animal likely to become a profitable and successful 

 hunting brood mare, Mr. Armstrong recommends : 



