140 THE HORSE 



what a good draft horse should be. The best 

 draft horse is the one that, with the needful size 

 and strength for an animal of his type, is most 

 truly a horse and not a lumbering equine 

 monstrosity. He should be active and easy in his 

 movements, of a cheerful, lively temperament, and 

 compact and handsome in build. As regards the 

 points of his conformation, there is a very com- 

 mon idea that he should be judged by a different 

 standard from that which is applied to road stock. 

 But if examined critically, the well-formed draft 

 horse, as shown in our chapter on the points of the 

 horse, will be found to possess the same points of 

 excellence that characterize a good road horse, 

 combined, of course, with those modifications of 

 conformation which the purpose for which he is in- 

 tended have made necessary. 



To put it in a little different way, he should be 

 judged first as a horse and then as a draft animal. 

 For instance, the draft horse is wide in the chest 

 and his legs wider apart than in a good carriage 

 horse. But, in addition to this breadth, he should 

 have the depth of chest that is a good point in all 

 horses. He should also have the strong loins, 

 short back, and slanting shoulders that go with 

 all good horses, and his limbs should be well- 

 formed, clean, and flat. That they cannot be as 

 clean and flat as those of a thoroughbred signifies 



