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CHAPTER X. 



ATTITUDES OF THE HORSE. 



Standing at Attention — Standing Collectedly — Standing at Ease — Carriage 

 of the Head and Neck. 



Standing at Attention. — When a well-shaped and sound 

 horse stands at attention, if I may use the term, he has his 

 head and neck raised, ears pricked forward, the profile of the 

 face at an angle of about 45° to the ground, and at about a 

 right angle to the upper line of the neck (the crest) ; the 

 weight proportionately distributed on all four limbs ; and, as a 

 rule, the fore foot of one side not so far advanced as its 

 fellow, and its hind foot more to the front than the other hind 

 foot {see PI. 35). If the hind feet be equally advanced, a 

 perpendicular line dropped from the point of the buttock will, 

 on the respective sides, about touch the point of the hock. 

 If one hind foot be placed in front of the other hind foot, 

 the vertical line will, more or less, divide the interval 

 between the points of the two hocks. As the weight of the 

 horse's head and neck is beyond the base of support formed 

 on the ground by his feet, he would "stand over" on his fore 

 legs — that is, their direction would be downward and 

 backward — if they were equally advanced, and if each of the 

 limbs was bearing its due share of weight. Hence, when one 



