EYES, 151 



Richard remarks that deaf horses carry their ears steadily 

 pointed in the direction the horse is looking, without side 

 '*play." Such animals are generally docile and attentive 

 to the indications received from the rein and leg. 



A horse is said to have lop-ears (Fig. 256) when they are 

 usually carried m a loose and somewhat pendulous manner, 

 and they therefore lack the frequent forward, backward and 

 lateral play of those of the ordinary horse. Although 

 increased size naturally directs attention to this peculiarity; 

 lop ears are not necessarily large ears. A lop-eared horse 

 is quite as capable of pricking his ears forward as any 

 other horse; but having done so, he generally allows them 

 to fall back into their accustomed pendulous position. Lop- 

 eared horses are generally supposed to be more placid in 

 disposition, if not more sluggish, than their fellows. 



Eyes. — The eye should be clear and free from tears, 

 the pupil black, and "the eyelids thin and comparatively 

 free from wrinkles. A small eye (Fig. 247) in the horse is 

 called a ''pig-eye," and is generally considered to denote 

 a disposition that is either sulky or wanting in courage. 

 In this photograph, the straight shoulder, ewe neck, Roman 

 nose and pig-eye point to the plebeian origin of the animal 

 whose portrait it is. The prominent -buck-eye" is gene- 

 rally regarded as an unfailing sign of short sight, which is, 

 however, a very rare defect in horses. Horses which show 

 a good deal of white in their eyes, as the term is, are 

 usually suspected of being vicious ; for kickers, as a rule, 

 uncover a portion of the white of the eye (on the side to 

 which the head is turned) when they look back ready to 

 *'let fly." This suspicion is naturally heightened if, at the 

 same time that the danger signal in the eye is displayed, 

 the ears are pressed back close on the neck, the front 

 teeth are exposed by the drawing back of the lips, and a 

 hind foot is kept raised off the ground. I have, however, 

 known horses of most placid temper whose eyes showed a 

 great deal of white all round the iris (the coloured portion 



