122 FORM AND ACTION. 



lieved of their burthen by the calling into action, through the elon- 

 gation of the neck, of the elastic cords running from the withers to 

 the poll. In the standing posture, therefore, Nature prompts the 

 animal to ease himself as much as he can by imposing more bur- 

 then upon the ligamentous powers and less upon the muscular ; and 

 these last, moreover, experience occasional relief by alternation of 

 their states from extension to flexion, from contraction to relaxation. 

 The posture of repose — that which the wearied horse instinc- 

 tively assumes when left to himself — is to be distinguished from 

 any attitude into which he may throw himself in a state of watch- 

 fulness, or excitement, or alarm ; and this again is different from 

 any artificial or unnatural position in which he may be placed by 

 riding-masters or horse-dealers, or in which he may have been 

 taught to place himself. The instant the animal's attention be- 

 comes attracted, the same instant may he be said to rouse himself 

 from his dormant or listless repose, and assume more or less 

 animation, simultaneously changing the standing posture for the 

 natural standing position : beyond this, through the interference of 

 art, the position may be changed again to what we call the arti- 

 ficial standing ; and thus the three acts of standing become exem- 

 plified in the same individual. The riding-master teaches the 

 horse to " stand upon all four of his legs," in order- to be ready, at 

 a moment's notice, to spring from the standing position into any 

 movement or pace required of him ; the horse-dealer teaches the 

 animal to stand with his fore and hind limbs stretched out in such 

 manner as to "make the most of himself" before a purchaser; 

 and it is pleasing to behold with what sagacity horses who have 

 been long or frequently in dealers' hands will acquire this arti- 

 ficial standing ; equally so is it to see how military horses ranged 

 in their ranks will stand on the qui vive, ready for a brisk and 

 sudden movement at the sound of the trumpet. 



THE ACTS OF REARING AND KICKING. 



Though the limbs are the transporting agents of the body, it is 

 not mere motion of them that will effect progression, much less 

 motion of any one or two, or even three of them, without the 

 other, that will produce it : all must move, and in moving change 



