i8o HEAD AND NECK. 



successfully pass this test, if it were applied with an ordinary 

 sized man's hand. When this space is broad and well 

 hollowed out, the horse will naturally be able to bend his 

 head more freely than when it is narrow, and he will, con- 

 sequently, be pleasanter to ride and drive. 



Setting on of the Head. — The part where the head is 

 set on to the neck should be lean and muscular, and should 

 show a slight depression behind the ears and lower jaw, and 

 also above the wind-pipe. This will indicate absence of an 

 excess of loose connective tissue and ability on the part of the 

 horse to bend his head freely. The beautiful manner in 

 which the neck " runs into " the head of some horses, is due 

 to the arrangement of the bones of the neck and to the lean 

 and well-developed condition of the muscles. The profile of 

 this junction will, then, form a curve, which will be a fitting 

 commencement of the graceful, undulating line that sweeps 

 over the neck, slightly dips in front of the withers, over which 

 it curves, and now, rising a little along the back, swells boldly 

 over the loins and quarters, dips again at the root of the dock, 

 and, finally, ends in the flowing lines of the tail. The setting 

 on of the head and the curves alluded to were beautifully 

 exemplified in St. Simon, whose photograph (PI. 7) is 

 not nearly as good as I could have wished. These points 

 also come out well in the Arab pony, Magistrate (PI. 28), and 

 in the Australian gelding, Romance (PI. 35). In the Arab 

 pony, The Brat (Fig. 31), the curved line is perfect from the 

 head to the croup, but, on account of the way he is standing, 

 it descends too abruptly from the top of the croup to the tail. 

 In Ormonde (Frontispiece) the head is set on to the neck in a 

 coarse, stiff manner. I may mention that the ideal contour 



