SHAPE. 427 



which is essential for this department. Whatever is unneces- 

 sary is so much dead weight, and we know the effect of T lbs. 

 in impeding the horse over a distance of ground. Now 7 lbs. 

 are easily bestowed upon a neck which may differ in at least 

 20 or 30 lbs. between the two extremes of lightness and exces- 

 sive weight. Tlius, it may be considered as indubitable, that 

 whatever is met with in the head and neck, wliich is not neces- 

 sary for the peculiar purposes of the race-horse, is so much 

 weight thrown away, and yet it must be carried by the horse. 

 Such is the general character of this part; but in detail the 

 head should be lean about the jaw, yet with a full development 

 of forehead, which should be convex and wide, so as to contain 

 within the skull a good volume of brain. Supposing this fulness 

 to exist, all the rest of the head may be as fine as possible ; the 

 jaws being reduced to a fine muzzle, with a slight hollowing 

 out in front, but with a width between the two sides of the 

 lower jaw where it joins the neck, so as to allow plenty of room 

 for the top of the windpipe when the neck is bent. Tlie ears 

 should be pricked and fine, but not too short; eyes full and 

 spirited ; nostrils large, and capable of being well dilated when 

 at full speed, which is easily tested by the gallop, after which 

 they ought to stand out firmly, and so as to show the internal 

 lining fully. The neck sliould be musculai", and yet light ; the 

 windpipe loose and separate from the neck — that is, not too 

 tightly bound down by the fascia^ or membrane of the neck. 

 The crest should be thin and wiry, not thick and loaded, as is 

 often seen in coarse stallions, or even in some mares. Between 

 the two extremes of the ewe-neck and its opposite there are 

 many degrees, but for racing purposes I should prefer, of the 

 two, the former to the latter ; for few horses can go well with 

 their necks bent so as to draw the chin to the bosom ; but here, 

 as in most other cases, the happy medium is to be desired, 

 which is that exhibited in the figure of Kingston, who is a horse 

 as remarkable for his shape as for his exceedingly distinguished 

 performances. His head and general form are those which 

 may be selected as the pattern for the I'ace-horse, for though 

 he is often considered as too light in the girth, he is, in my 

 opinion, just what a race-horse should be in that department, 

 which is more frequently too deep than the reverse ; and his 



