CHAPTER I 



WHAT CONSTITUTES A GOOD HORSE 



THE horse, of all our domestic animals, has 

 always held the most conspicuous place. 

 It is easy to say that he is more showy, but 

 less useful than the cow or sheep and that he has 

 carried many men into trouble as well as out of it, 

 but the fact remains that he has been celebrated 

 in romance and poetry and song, from the days 

 when he was admired by Solomon and when Job 

 wrote his splendid panegyric on the war-horse, 

 down to the present time. 



Is he justly entitled to the place of honor he 

 has thus held, and still holds, in the world? And 

 is he worthy of the attention of the best intellects 

 and the lifetimes of study that, from time to time, 

 have been bestowed upon his breeding, care, and 

 management? Be assured that he is. No man 

 need ever feel that he is misapplying his best 

 powers in studying and improving any of the ani- 

 mals that Nature has given for his use. And if 

 men have sometimes got into trouble through 



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