1.34 THE CHARGER. 



cult v.ith the horse, by reason of the inflexible 

 nature of his back-bone, the one selected for a 

 charger should have great freedom of action, hav- 

 ino; his hinder-le^s well bent under his body, so 

 that he may be easily thrown upon his haunches ; 

 also much liberty in his shoulders, and pliancy in 

 the muscles of the neck ; in which case he will sel- 

 dom fail in having the proper requisites for his 

 calling. The position of his hinder-legs, how^ever, 

 is most particularly insisted upon, because, should 

 they be straight — that is, not inclining inwards 

 from the hock, after the form of the ostrich's leg — 

 he will, with great difficulty, be made the supple, 

 short-turning, handy animal that he ought to be, 

 to render him perfectly available to his rider, at 

 the head of his regiment, or in the ranks. Per- 

 haps those horses which were destined to mount 

 our a^ncient nobility, or courteous knights of old, 

 for feats of chivalry, and gained them the palm in 

 that field of romantic honour, were more highly 

 " dressed,'" as the term is, in the manege, than an 

 officer's charger of these days should be ; neverthe- 

 less, as Colonel Peters observes, in his Treatise on 

 Equitation, (London, 1885,) " Although it might 

 spoil a good horse for military purposes, to form 

 hira perfectly after the higher manege principles, 

 yet he would be equally unfit for that duty, if he 

 were left in a raw and ignorant state." 



Amongst the ancient Greeks, all horses, as well 

 as all men, were strictly examined before they 

 were admitted into the cavalry ; and the precedent 

 cannot be too closely followed. It is well known, 



