156 HEAD AND NECK, 



with the word of command in a riding school or on parade 

 Besides this, to have the necessary power in his fore limbs, 

 the heavy draught animal will need massive neck muscles 

 (p. 31) to draw them forward. When ^* cleverness " is 

 essential to a horse, he should have a flexible neck, and 

 should be able to bend and extend it with the utmost facility, 

 so as to use his head and neck as a balancing pole for 

 preserving the equilibrium of his body. 



Some extra weight in the neck, apart from that required 

 for the due development of the neck muscles, will probably 

 be no detriment to the usefulness of a powerful cart-horse ; 

 for it will aid him in ''throwing weight into the collar." In 

 the saddle-horse, on the contrary, it would be a great dis- 

 advantage , because it would make him heavy on his fore 

 hand, and would consequently render him liable to pre- 

 maturely wear out his fore legs. In this connection, I may 

 point out that entires, who, as a rule, have much heavier 

 necks than geldings, do not, when they are employed at 

 fast paces, stand as much work, retain their " form '* as 

 long, or get into galloping condition as quickly as those 

 which have been ''added to the list." We see this rule 

 well proved in steeplechasing and racing, as witness the 

 long careers of those geldings, Liberator, Regal, Gamecock 

 (Fig. 259), Reindeer, and others. For races in the early 

 part of the season in England, geldings as a rule can be 

 got much fitter than entires ; as they require less work. As 

 maturity of horseflesh is required far more at steeplechasing 

 than at flat racing ; the superiority of the gelding over the 

 entire is particularly observable "between the flags." 

 Owners and trainers who recognise the advantage of 

 castrating those colts of theirs which do not give promise 

 of value for stud purposes, are often deterred from putting 

 the operation into practice on account of geldings being 

 ineligible for many flat events. This prohibition extends 

 on the Continent to a few steeplechases. I think I may 

 safely say that the large majority of colts which are not 

 worth keeping entire for future stud purposes, should 



