ii] OF HORSES AND MARES 203 



should choose big of body, shapely, with no part 

 5 of the body out of proportion. You can guess 

 from the foal the kind of horse ^ he is going to be — 

 [a good one] if his head is small, if he has well- 

 proportioned limbs, black eyes, well opened nos- 

 trils, ears leaning ^forwards, the mane abundant, in 

 colour leaning to dark, and slightly curling, with 

 rather fine hair falling to the right side of the neck, 

 the chest broad and full, broad shoulders, belly of 

 moderate size, loins sloping downwards, broad 

 shoulder-blades, the spine, if possible, double," 

 failing this not projecting,* tail abundant and curl- 

 ing slightly, the legs straight, symmetrical, and 

 turning rather inwards than outwards, the knees 

 round and small, and the hoofs hard. He should 

 have the veins visible all over his body, for a horse 

 of such a kind can readily be treated ^ when he is ill. 



' Oualis equus. Compare with this description of the perfect 

 horse Columella's (vi, 29, 2), Vergil's (Georg., iii, 75-88), 

 that of the Geoponica (xvi, i) — all of which follow Varro 

 closely. 



' Aurihus adplicatis. Adplicatus : replicatus: : aduncus: red- 

 uncus. Columella {loc. cit) has brevibus auriculis et adrectis, 

 the Geoponica {loc. cit.) to. wrn irpoaiaToX^kva^ Palladius breves 

 et argutas (flickering — mobile). 



' Spina duplici. Cf Georg., iii, 87: At duplex agitur per 

 lumbos spina. In a well-conditioned muscular man or horse 

 the spinal vertebrae are not visible, as the spine lies between 

 two ridges formed by the dorsal muscles, and is covered by 

 their muscular attachments. 



* Non exstanti. Cf. ne gibberae of ii, 5, 7. 



' Ad medendum. In the treatment of sick animals bleeding 

 was as much used by the ancients as it was in the Middle Ages 



