140 HEAD AND NECK 



CHAPTER XVI. 



HEAD AND NECK. 



Size of Head — Leanness of Head— Profile of Face — Fiont View of Face — 

 Size of Bram— Top of the Head — Eais — Eyes — Hollo\\s above the Eyes 

 — Nostrils— Lips—Lower Jaw — Setting- on of the Head — Neck — Tin oat. 



Size of Head. — We have seen on page 136 that as the 

 head is a portion of the spinal column, it should correspond 

 in size to the bones of the back, loins, croup, and ribs, and 

 not to those of the limbs. Agreeably to the axiom that ''the 

 function makes the organ," we find, in the majority of cases, 

 that a horse's breathing capacity is proportionate to the size 

 of his air passages, of which the cavities that lead from the 

 nostrils towards the windpipe and lungs cannot be large, 

 unless the bones which form them are of fair size. We must 

 remember that a horse breathes, normally, through his nostrils 

 and not through his mouth. Besides, as the tube [larynx) 

 through which air enters the lungs from the nasal cavities, 

 lies between the two branches of the lower jaw ; it follows, 

 speaking generally, that the broader and more open the 

 nostrils are, the greater will be the calibre of this tube, and 

 the more perfect the breathing power. Although it is 

 impossible to draw any hard and fast rule on this subject, 

 we may infer that a comparatively small head is not a desir- 

 able " point " in horses whose success depends on their power 

 of breathing. I venture to think that men of experience will 

 agree with me in saying that unusually neat and trim heads 

 are far more common among '* the five furlong division/' than 

 among genuine stayers. Again, the head should be of 

 sufficient size to afford a broad surface for the attachment of 

 the muscles of mastication, for those that extend, flex, rotate 



