20 Present Varieties of the Horse. 



until he has arrived at mature age, and is taken out of 

 training. The bones below the hock should be flat and 

 free from adhesions; the ligaments and tendons fully 

 developed, and standing out free from the bone ; and the 

 joints well formed and wide, yet without any diseased 

 enlargement ; the pasterns should be moderately long 

 and oblique ; the bones of good size ; and lastly, the feet 

 should correspond with those already alluded to in the 

 anterior extremity. 



The totality of these points should be in proportion to 

 one another — that is to say, the formation of the horse 

 should be " true." He should not have long well deve- 

 loped hind-quarters, with an upright, weak, or confined 

 fore-quarter. Nor will the converse serve ; for however 

 well formed the shoulder may be, the horse will not go 

 well unless he has a similar formation in the propellers. 

 It is of great importance, therefore, that the race horse 

 should have all his various points in true relative develop- 

 ment, and that there shall not be the hind-quarter of a 

 long racing-like horse with the thick confined shoulder 

 which would suit a stride less reaching in its nature. 



THE COLOUR, SKIN, HAIR, ETC. 



The colour of the thorough-bred horse is now generally 

 bay, brown, or chestnut, one or other of which will occur 

 in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. Grey is not com- 

 mon, but sometimes appears, as in the recent case of 

 Chanticleer and some of his stock. Black also occasion- 

 illy makes its appearance, but not more frequently than 

 grey. Roans, duns, sorrels, &c, are now quite exploded, 

 and the above five colours may be said to complete the 

 list of colours seen on the race-course. Sometimes these 

 colours are mixed with a good deal of white, in the shape 

 of blazes on the face, or white legs and feet ; or even both 

 may occur, and the horse may have little more than his 

 body of a brown, bay, or chestnut. Most people, however, 

 prefer the self colour, with as little white as possible ; and 

 nothing but the great success of a horse's stock would 

 induce breeders to resort to him if they were largely 

 endowed with white. Grey hairs mixed in the coat, as in 



