IIO Our Noblest Friend, The Horse 



inent, but the general bodily form and its propor- 

 tions, which testify to ability or the reverse. 



If you must buy a horse upon one single point, 

 choose him on his head and countenance — and never 

 select one which, whatever his bodily merits, does 

 not impress you as being generous, bold, intelligent, 

 and vivacious. You trust a man by his face — take 

 his soul on credit, if that evidence be flawless : you 

 may pursue the same course with your horse. The 

 body represents the material portion, the head and 

 countenance the spiritual. 



A little book by Doctor J. C. L. Carson, of Ireland, 

 — long out of print, — provides the very best de- 

 scription of a horse's faultless head that has ever been 

 written, and it were presumptuous to attempt to 

 improve upon it in any respect. The doctor says : 

 " The head of every horse should be as small as 

 must be in keeping with the rest of his body. A 

 large, coarse head is a physical defect, and has no 

 counterbalancing advantages. The muzzle should 

 be fine and of moderate length ; the mouth deep, for 

 receiving and retaining the bit : the lips rather thin 



