2S HANDBOOK OF THE TURF. 



bar, where the guards i^ass through the end of it, slips up and 

 down, having a play of about half an inch, which eases the 

 mouth when the reins are slackened, by letting the bit slip 

 down from the pressure on the corners of the mouth. 



Bars of the Hoof. The portions of the wall of the 

 hoof which are turned inward at the heels, and run more or 

 less parallel to the sides of the frog, along the inner border of 

 the sole. 



Bars of the Mouth. The continuations of the two 

 bones of the lower jaw, on each side, between the back, or 

 corner teeth, and the tushes. It is on these that the bit rests. 



Bars of the Tree. The narrow front portions or side- 

 pieces connecting the j)omel and cantle of a saddle. 



Bar Plate. While the American racing rules do not 

 allow a horse to start in a race in ordinary or training shoes, 

 and while they give the judges authority to rule off a horse if 

 started in shoes, they do allow bar plates to be used, with the 

 consent of the judges. 



Bar Shoes. [Law]. If bar shoes are required to 

 enable a horse to do his ordinary work, it is regarded as an 

 unsoundness. 



Barb. The horse of the Barbary States — Tunis, Tripoli, 

 Fez, Algiers and Morocco, all lying on the northern coast of 

 Africa to the west of Egypt. The Barb is not as tall as the 

 Arabian, seldom standing more than 14.2 hands high; but in 

 other respects is acknowledged to be superior to the Arabian 

 in all points of external conformation. The barb blood 

 brought into Spain during the Moorish wars so improved the 

 Spanish horses that for several centuries they were considered 

 the best riding horses of Europe. 



Barrel. The body of the horse ; the space between the 

 back and the stomach. A large, barrel-shaped body is evi- 

 dence of a horse's possession of good health and high powers 

 of endurance ; it is, therefore, a sign that he is sound. 



I would regard roundness of barrel behind the girths ; deptli of body, 

 (as compared to length of body), in the center of tlie back, and 

 being well ribbed up, as the great signs, in conformation, of a 

 horse hav^ing good breatliing power.— The Points of the Horse, 

 M. Horace Hayes, M. R. C. V. S. 



Bay. The best, most desirable and most fashionable 

 color of the horse. Such a color indicates the best blood, the 

 highest breeding. Bay, black from the knees and hocks to 

 the feet, no white markings, is almost invariably the first 

 choice of the purchaser. The color is so called from its resem- 

 blance to that of dried bay leaves. 



