118 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[CHAP. 



judging of the age of a horse at any age depends 

 on considerable practice. With a good deal of 

 practice it is comparatively easy to judge the 

 approximate age of a horse up to twenty years 

 of age. 



At fifteen years, the table of incisors is tri- 

 angular and the sharp point on the back edge 

 of the upper cor. incisor is worn away. 



At twenty years, the shape of the table is 

 rectangular, being narrow from side to side. 



A horse that has grazed much on sandy soil 

 will have shorter incisors than one that has done 

 little grazing. 



AGE OF HORSES. The terms " rising " and 

 "off" are used to denote, approximately, how 

 far distant the horse's birthday is. For example : 

 rising six means that the horse is a five-year-old, 

 but nearly six ; six off means that he is a six- 

 year-old, and nearer six than seven. 



474. ON PHOTOGRAPHING HORSES. As one 

 who has photographed over two thousand horses 

 in the past five years, I think it may be as well to 

 say a few words on this subject. Photographing 

 horses is far more difficult than it looks, and I 

 do not wonder that many photographers refuse 

 to do this. The photographer has so much to 

 keep his eye on ; he must watch the legs, ears 

 and tail at the same time. The first thing he 

 must do is to get the horse standing with all 

 four legs showing from a point directly behind 

 the camera, standing with his legs under him 

 and properly balanced, and not with his legs 

 stretched out, as is so commonly done with hack- 

 neys. (See P. 105c.) This latter is an example 

 of the foolishness and ignorance of anatomy dis- 

 played by grooms and owners of such horses. 

 It is supposed to look showy, but is unnatural 

 and injurious, causing strains upon the back 

 tendons of the hindlegs and upon the back itself. 



When flies are absent, the photographer's 

 difficulties are considerably lightened. After he 

 has got the horse standing well, he has merely to 

 watch the horse's ears ; but, if flies are present, 

 he has to watch the ears and tail. He has to try 

 some means of attracting the horse, so that it will 

 keep its ears forward steadily ; he then has to 

 wait for the tail to be still. The worst time of 

 year to take a horse is at the end of the summer, 

 when the flies are hungry and worry horses very 

 much. Of course, it is an easy matter for a 

 retoucher to put the ears forward on the photo- 

 graph, should the horse have them back at the 

 moment the photograph was taken, so this point 

 is not so important as the tail. Many people 

 think that by sitting on the horse or in a vehicle 

 behind and chirruping with the mouth they will 

 cause the horse to prick up his ears ; on the 

 contrary, the horse holds them back, listening 

 intently to the signals from the rear. Flapping 

 the reins on the horse's back will have the same 

 effect of causing the horse to hold his ears back 

 to receive the signals. The man on top or on 



the vehicle must keep absolutely quiet and still, 

 and mind his own business. An assistant (when 

 the photographer is quite ready) should walk 

 forward with a measure of oats, if necessary, 

 shaking the same. The practice of throwing 

 something up in the air in front of the horse's 

 head is not a good one, as it will cause him, 

 probably, to prick his ears suddenly and only 

 momentarily. Another good practice is that of 

 leading another horse at some distance in front 

 of the one to be photographed. 



475. CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. The 

 special good points that should exist in a saddle 

 horse have been described in Sec. 345. 



In considering the external conformation of 

 the horse we have to consider two points : the 

 anatomical conformation or malformation, as 

 the case may be, and the appearance or looks 

 of the horse. Shakespeare says, "Beauty is 

 bought by judgment of the eye." 



The former point, of course, is the one which 

 a horseman considers most, but the latter is 

 always considered most by the average buyer. 

 It must be fully realised that a perfect horse is 

 almost unknown, but a good horse must have 

 many good, few indifferent, and no bad points. 

 In judging a horse we consider the various 

 structures purely from the point of view of 

 mechanics. The usefulness of a steel chain 

 depends upon the strength of the weakest link. 

 So in the horse, one bad point will be very much 

 worse than several indifferent points. But in 

 the chain, one very strong link will not weaken 

 the chain, but one very strong structure in the 

 horse may cause considerable weakness. For 

 example, a horse with a heavy, well-made body 

 upon weak legs is far worse than a weak body 

 on weak legs, because in the latter the legs will 

 last longer. Hence two weaknesses often 

 counteract one another. 



Then, again, a good point may partially 

 counteract a bad one. For example, a straight 

 pastern may be counteracted to a great extent by 

 a good sloping shoulder. The usefulness of a 

 horse possessing various malformations depends 

 entirely on the work that he is required to do. 

 For example, a horse working on city streets 

 must have good feet, and especially good frogs ; 

 a horse with a long, hollow back will not do 

 for saddle work, but is all right for harness 

 work ; a weak-hocked horse will not make a 

 hunter, but will last for years in light harness ; 

 a wide chest and round barrel are essential for 

 a heavy draught horse, but a narrow, deep chest 

 is essential for speed in the racehorse. Good 

 wind is essential for fast work, but not so 

 essential for slow draught work. It is far easier 

 to procure a good little horse than a good big 

 horse, and for this reason it is commonly sup- 

 posed that big horses will always be beaten by 

 the small ones. If both were equally good, the 

 big would win in most cases ; good big horses 



