THE HEAD. 21 



tions. A large head will, of course, render length in the neck less 

 desirable ; but even in this case much will depend upon the man- 

 ner in which the head is " set on," and upon the mode in which it is 

 carried, and something upon the form of the head itself. A sort of 

 slang reply used by horse-dealers when any purchaser objects to a 

 horse on account of the size of his head, is, " Oh, never mind his 

 head, sir ! he carries it himself." An apophthegm which, vulgar and 

 absurd as it appears, like the motto in the old song, " means more 

 than it says." For the dealer means his customer to understand 

 that the animal is capable — possesses the power in his neck — of 

 carrying his head without trouble to himself or inconvenience to his 

 rider; and that, therefore, his big head is in point of fact not an 

 objection to him, or at least only so far as regards its appearance. 



Abstract size of the head is of less consequence than the car- 

 riage of it; and, in order that it may be well carried, the head must 

 be properly " set on." Upon this depends the power of getting 

 the head into the proper position. When the head is properly set 

 on, and the neck of adequate length, the riding-master's task be- 

 comes comparatively facile and pleasant : for such a horse Nature 

 has clone what he by art in vain endeavours to accomplish for a 

 horse of an opposite conformation. In making these observations 

 I am fully aware how much for the better horses having faulty con- 

 formation in these respects may, by a judicious system of manege, 

 be improved : I know that they may, and to a greater degree than 

 people in general imagine ; at the same time I shall not be contra- 

 dicted when I affirm, that there are necks straight or ewed, with 

 heads set on in that fashion, that will defy all the riding-masters in 

 Christendom to get them into a proper position, and make such 

 horses ride in any tolerable form. 



There is a great variety in the size and shape of horses' heads, 

 and the indications they afford are no less unerring than useful to 

 us in determining breed, qualifications, &c. The head may be of 

 that ordinarv magnitude and suitable character that attracts no par- 

 ticular notice; or it may be disproportionately large or small, or 

 out of proportion in some of its parts ; or such as is accounted hand- 

 some, or plain, or ugly; or such as denotes kind or breeding, or 

 any particular breed, or nationality. 



A LARGE OR BIG HEAD is generally regarded as unsightly — 



