NECK. 183 



an intricate country, or in conformance with the word of 

 command in a riding school or on parade. Besides this, to 

 have the necessary power in his fore Hmbs, the heavy draught 

 animal will need massive neck muscles {see p. ^']) to draw 

 them forward. When "cleverness" is essential to a horse, 

 he should have a flexible neck, and should be able to bend 

 and extend it with the utmost facility, so as to use his 

 head and neck as a balancing pole for preserving the 

 equilibrium of his body. 



Some extra weight in the neck, apart from that required 

 for the due development of the neck muscles, will probably 

 be no detriment to the usefulness of a powerful cart-horse ; 

 for it will aid him in " throwing weight into the collar." In 

 the saddle-horse, on the contrary, it would be of the greatest 

 disadvantage. Firstly, it would make him heavy on his fore- 

 hand ; and, secondly, it would directly tend to wear out his 

 fore legs and feet. In this connection, I may mention that 

 entires, who, as a rule, have much heavier necks than geld- 

 ings, do not, when they are employed at fast paces, stand as 

 much work, retain their "form" as long, nor get into gallop- 

 ing condition as quickly as those which have been "added to 

 the list." We see this rule well proved in steeplechasing and 

 racing, as witness the long careers of those geldings, Liberator, 

 Regal, and Reindeer. If I do not greatly mistake, the fact of 

 the unsexed Knight of Burghley winning the Lincolnshire 

 Handicap in 1883 was chiefly due to his requiring but little 

 work to get him fit. I would therefore strongly advise owners 

 of race-horses to have the operation performed on all their 

 colts which did not give promise sufficient to warrant their 

 being kept for stud purposes ; especially if there w^as any doubt 

 as to their standing work. Several experienced trainers with 



