54 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



action of the limb. In saddle-horses, nothing is to be gained by 

 increasing the weight of the neck muscles beyond that necessary 

 to give a sure and graceful carriage to the head and a quick and 

 free forward swing to the front leg. The neck should, therefore, 

 be long and slender, without too marked a crest. (Figure 1.) 

 The neck, at its upper end, should be spare and flexible. This 

 condition, together with width between the jaw-bones, is neces- 

 sary in saddle-horses; without it, they are stiff and unhandy. 



The horse shown in Figure 40 is an example of an otherwise 

 good horse, spoiled by too much flesh in the neck. He has the 

 neck of a stallion, and the inference is that he was gelded com- 

 paratively late in life. Castration is usually performed when the 

 colt is about one year old. If the operation is done, as is some- 

 times the case, when the colt is very young, he is apt to be under- 

 developed in the forehand when he is matured. If the time of 

 castration is postponed until two, three, or later, the development 

 of the forehand will more and more resemble that of a stallion. 

 The operation is more easily and more safely performed on a 

 young than on a mature animal. 



The excess of flesh on the crest of the horse in Figure 40 — 

 thirty pounds or so — makes it impossible for him to handle his 

 head and neck easily, and he is hard to turn or stop quickly in 

 consequence. He is not a good drill-horse, although he has very 

 comfortable gaits and is kind and willing. 



The horse shown in Figure 41 is a saddle-horse "de luxe." 

 His neck is thick at the base, but it is light at the crest and tapers 

 nicely. He should be able to control it easily. 



A ewe-necked horse is one whose crest is concave. 



The nasal membranes should be smooth, moist, of uniform 

 color, and of a bright appearance. Any dullness of these mem- 

 branes, any discharge from the nostril, and any ulceration, or 

 scars of old ulcers, should be viewed with gravest suspicion in 

 examining a strange horse. 



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