12 THE HORSE 



horses, the same might be said of almost any 

 other thing — and, clearly, it is not the fault of the 

 horse. 



POINTS OF THE HOESE 



The first thing to learn in the science of horse- 

 manship — the very A B C of the matter, as it 

 were — is the points of a good horse. There is no 

 doubt that a great many of my readers already 

 know them and equally no doubt that a great 

 many have gone far beyond this initial chapter. 

 But many times in my life I have been surprised to 

 find men of mature years who had always used 

 horses and even raised a few colts who were not 

 as well up on the matter as one might suppose; 

 and I have met many young men who aspired to 

 be horsemen without having acquired that essen- 

 tial knowledge of the subject that is better learned 

 by a little earnest study in the first place than by 

 painful and costly experience later. 



It is self-evident that the most important parts 

 of a horse and the first to examine are his feet and 

 legs. For if he is deficient in this respect, no su- 

 periority in other points and no qualities in breed- 

 ing or disposition can offset it. The best chair 

 or table in the world is useless if it has only three 

 or two legs ; and the wisdom of the Arab proverb, 

 " No foot, no horse," is apparent. 



