The Poor Maris Hunter 



tranquil look different from the startled, shifting 

 glances of the nervous or vicious horses. Nor do 

 I like a small narrow eye, but still I have known 

 such horses to improve on acquaintance. Then I 

 object to a short, thick neck. Even if a horse have 

 a muscular, masculine neck, there is no reason why 

 it should not be placed on his shoulders at the 

 right angle and rising with an elegant curve from 

 the shoulders to the ears. This is not a mere 

 matter of appearance. Horses with necks so put 

 on, carry their heads in the right place. The bit 

 acts easily in their mouths, and they are easier and 

 safer to ride and jdrive than animals with short, 

 stumpy necks or long and weak ones. 



The next point is depth of girth. If you run 

 your eye from the point where the wither joins 

 the back to that behind the elbow the horse should 

 be deep. If the body is light and shallow the 

 horse will appear long in the \q^. Thus, if a 

 horse seems to stand high off the ground and to 

 look tall you may suspect a light body, and such a 

 horse is not usually a stayer. A point to be noted 

 is the way the forelegs are put on. If too far back, 

 so that when the horse is standing the legs are 

 much behind the points of the shoulders, I should 

 reject him. Such a horse is more than likely to 

 come down when you ride him. A horse with a 

 shoulder that looks upright may do fairly well, 

 but a horse with a loaded shoulder and his fore- 

 legs much under him I would not have. If he has 



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