NECK. i8i 



which I have described, is an affair of beauty rather than of 

 usefulness. 



Neck. — As the length of the neck indicates the length 

 of the muscles which draw the shoulder forward (^see p. ■^'j) ; 

 the more we seek for speed in an animal, the longer 

 should be his neck, its thickness being limited by the 

 amount of strength the muscles have to put forth. The race- 

 horse, therefore, should have a long and comparatively thin 

 neck, and the other classes should have their necks pro- 

 portionately shorter and thicker according as they recede from 

 the galloping type and approach that of the heavy draught 

 animal. The operation of this rule should be restricted only 

 so far as to allow sufficient length of neck for grazing 

 purposes. Some heavy cart-horses have such short necks 

 that they cannot feed off level ground with comfort to 

 themselves. When the art of breeding is pushed to such an 

 extreme as this, I cannot help thinking that there must be 

 some defect in its practical working. I may mention that 

 the combination of a large head and a thin neck is not 

 alone unpleasing to the eye, but is almost always a sign of 

 general weakness. 



The all-essential power which men possess to guide and 

 regulate the movements of a horse, largely depends on the 

 flexibility of the animal's neck. Were we unable to make 

 him bend it, and to oblige him to turn his head to one side or 

 the other in obedience to the "feeline" of the hands on the 

 reins, he would be all but useless to us in saddle and for 

 ordinary harness work. With reference to this subject, I 

 may mention that I once undertook to saddle and get ridden 

 an old entire zebra {eqtms zebra, see PI. 29), whose feet were 



