11 



PLATE IX. 



The animal from which this drawing was made was accounted 

 one of the finest figures in England ; although at the time the 

 portrait was taken he was ten years old, and had done a great deal 

 of work, both in the field and in harness. A small head and neck 

 are considered a great beauty in a horse ; and in the original of 

 this drawing, I think they were the least I ever saw, in proportion 

 to the body. 



I have depicted this horse in the action of walking, for which 

 he was particularly famous, and have paid much attention to his 

 method of delivering the knee and foot. In walking fast he did 

 not move two legs at the same time ; for example, in lifting the near 

 leg before, and the off leg behind, he raised one immediately after 

 the other, bearing the shoulder well forward before he took the foot 

 from the ground ; and having raised the feet, he delivered the knee 

 in the form of Figure 4 ; and the foot as Figure 2, which, on a 

 comparison with Figure 8, the reader will find, gives the animal 

 a manifest advantage : for in the action of Figure 3, he must lose 

 much ground ; while in the action of Figure 2, his gain would be 

 equal to three inches at every step, which, in a mile, would make a 

 difference of a hundred yards — a very material consideration in a 

 match. The quarters of this animal were long, and very strong ; and 

 he delivered the hind foot well under the body, bending it, at the 

 same time, at the hock, and rising well in the toe, or point of the 

 foot of the standing leg. At every step in walking, and indeed in all 

 other action, the shoulder should be seen to play free ; for it may 

 be laid down as a general maxim, that a horse confined in the 

 shoulders can never have good action. 



