viii PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION, 



the practical side of the subject, and, in most cases, the reasons for the 

 opinions advanced. The information contained in the small print 

 ones is, however, indispensable for the full comprehension of all the 

 principles discussed, and, as it is of a very elementary character, I 

 trust it will not be neglected. We must here remember that the 

 horse is a living machine, the capabilities of which cannot be accurately 

 gauged without a knowledge of its construction, and of the principles 

 of its working. Having treated on Soundness and Age of Horses in 

 another book, I have omitted these subjects entirely from the present 

 one. I must, however, state that as they are directly connected with 

 the question of a hoise " standmg '* work, it is impossible to judge his 

 capabilities with a near approach to correctness without a knowledge 

 of vetennary science. 



Besides the new features in this book to which I have already 

 drawn notice, I may mention that I have tried to arrive at a know- 

 ledge of the respective " points " of speed and strength in the horse, 

 by examining the conformation of other animals that are distinguished 

 by the possession of one or other of these " gifts " in a high state 

 of perfection. Also, I have made a more exhaustive enquiry into 

 the nature of the paces and of the leap of the horse than has 

 previously been attempted ; my object being to obtain from it 

 exact deductions as to the best kind of conformation for various 

 forms of work. 



At the suggestion of my friend, Veterinary Colonel Anderson, 

 I began, about fifteen years ago, to write a book on the Points of 

 the Horse, which subject I resolved to treat according to the 

 time-honoured methods of my literary predecessors. I worked at it 

 while studying to become a veterinary surgeon, and after that at 

 Newmarket, where I went to reside in order to increase my know- 

 ledge of English thoroughbreds. For this, every facility was given 

 me by my kind friends, Mr. John Hammond, Edwin Martin, 

 Jarvis, Tom. Jennings, Junr., Alf. Sadler, R. Sherwood, and others, 

 who were always glad to show me their horses, and discuss their 

 various points. When the book was completed in 1883, I despatched 

 the manuscript to my publishei's by the hand of a friend, who, by 

 an extraordinary piece of good luck, lost it so effectually that I 

 have not seen it since. While suffering from the shock caused by 

 the loss of the results of seven years' toil, I happened to read Professor 

 Marey's Machine Animale (Animal Mechanics), and before I got 

 half through it, I gi-asped the fact that I had been working in an 

 entirely wrong groove, and that my careless friend had, most 

 fortunately, saved me from publishing a book which would not have 

 satisfied my more matured judgment. In 1884 I gave in London 

 a short course of private lectures on the conformation of the horse 



