CHAPTER II. 



THE NECK — THE HEAD — THE MOUTH — THE TONGUE — 

 CARRIAGE FEELING. 



WE have spoken of the horse's neck as being a 

 lever, which of course, strictly speaking, sup- 

 poses it to form nearly a straight line, and to possess only 

 a very limited amount of flexibility, neither of w^hich 

 properties, in fact, perfectly belong to it.* But a well- 

 shaped neck, well clothed with firm muscles, possesses 

 both straightness and inflexibility sufficient to render it 

 possible to apply to it the theory of lever action with 

 perfect propriety. Such a neck will only deviate from 

 the straight line to any considerable amount near its 

 point of junction with the head, this latter also acting 

 as a lever, and imparting to the whole that graceful 

 curvature so pleasing to the eye even of the uninitiated 

 — which is, however, not merely a matter of taste, 

 being, in fact, an evidence of perfection of equilibrium 

 and power. 



It is scarcely necessary to say that there are almost 

 infinite varieties of necks to be found among horses as 

 regards these two very important items of straightness 

 and inflexibility ; it will, however, suffice for our pres- 



* The horse's back really forms a double curve, one being turned 

 upward, the other downward ; the mechanical action results in a 

 straight line forming the axis of the whole. 



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