AS A BUSINESS HORSE n 



joint well forward, and the muscles of the thigh should continue plump and 

 full well down to the hock. The hock should be wide, short, free from all 

 lumps, the muscles connected with it clearly denned, and the point should 

 be long. Below the hock, the hind legs should resemble the fore legs ; they 

 should descend perpendicularly, and the hocks should not be nearer together 

 than the fetlocks ; it is less objectionable to have the fetlocks nearer together 

 than the hocks, but the nearer they approach the perpendicular the better. 



" With such formed shoulders as we have described, the neck will almost 

 invariably be well-placed, and the head carried high. The neck should be of 

 moderate length, tapering well towards the head, slightly crowning on 

 top, and very slightly curved underneath. On such shaped necks, the head 

 is almost invariably well placed, with the muzzle neither too high, nor too 

 low, not too much projected forward, nor too much drawn in towards the 

 chest. When the neck is very short, the horse is apt to be heavy in hand, and 

 want sensitiveness to the rein ; it also gives the animal an awkward and un- 

 couth appearance. The head should be small, lean, and tapering rapidly 

 from the jowls to the muzzle ; the jowls should be thin, but muscular, and the 

 jaws well apart. The profile should be straight, neither ' hollow-faced ' nor ' Ro- 

 man-nosed' both are unsightly, and the Roman-nosed horse rarely has a 

 good nostril ; the forehead should be long and broad, the muzzle thin, the 

 lips small and firm, and the nostril full and prominent, showing a bright red 

 membrane on the inside. But the eye and ear are the most important 

 features of the head, and it is from these chiefly that we form our opinion of 

 the horse's temper and disposition. The eyes should be placed wide apart, 

 should be full, large and prominent, with an expression which it is almost im- 

 possible to describe, for it is susceptible of almost as many different shades 

 as the eye of man. It should be roving, bold and eager, but mild and 

 pleasant. The lids should be well open when at rest, for horses who keep 

 the lids partly closed will generally be found dull in their paces, and sullen in 

 their tempers. The ears should be small, clean, free from many long hairs 

 on the inside, be thin and upright, and have a fine taper from the root to the 

 tip, which should be pointed and turned a little inward. It is not a serious 

 objection, that they are a little large, provided they are upright, fine and 

 lively. They should set well apart, but not very wide, for when close togeth- 

 er they indicate a timid and skittish disposition, and when very wide they are 

 generally thought to indicate a sluggish and stubborn temper ; besides this ob- 

 jection, when very wide apart they set so much on the side of the head that 

 they appear unsightly, being inclined to lean out and and become 'lop-eared'. 

 The back should be short and nearly straight, the withers high and thin ; the 

 body should be deep at the shoulder, the barrel round, the ribs starting from 

 the back-bone in a direction nearly horizontal, forming what is called a broad 

 back ; the back and hips should be well joined, or coupled ; there should be 

 no depression just forward of the hip bones, but it should keep up plump 

 and full ; the loins should be wide and muscular, and the hindermost rib 

 should come out near to the hip bone, such horses being called 'well ribbed 



