THE HORSE. 



171 



of advice for an intending purchaser to carry in his mind as 

 any we know of : 



• Had I to choose a hunter by seeing one point only, it should be 

 his head ; for I never knew one with a small, clean, intelligent face 

 and prominent eyes to be bad. I like his neck also to be muscular, 

 but not heavy ; shoulders well back, with long arms ; short from 

 the knee to the fetlock ; pasterns rather long but not upright ; his 

 feet cannot well be described on paper, but they should be large 

 and perfect, or all the rest is as ' leather and prunella.' His back 



' Had I to choose by one point, it should be his head." 



should not be too short, and he should have stout loins and wide 

 hips, and good length from the latter to his hocks, which should be 

 rather turned inwards. Added to this he should be large round the 

 girth, but whether in depth or width does not much signify ; and 

 the higher he is bred the greater his intelligence, and the speedier 

 his recovery from the effects of a hard day.^ 



The objections to thorough-bred hunters come mostly from 

 heavy men. No doubt the system of handicapping has pro- 



1 Post and Paddock, ch. xiii. 



