HANDINESS AND CLEVERNESS. 227 



brought well to the front, and as they respectively come to 

 the ground, their knees should be quite straight (Figs. 

 199, 206 and 409). The head should be somewhat raised 

 and the muzzle drawn in a little, so as to bring the weight 

 back, and to enable the horse to see where he is going to 

 place his feet. 



Handiness and Cleverness. — ^The '* handiness " or 

 '* cleverness'' of a horse depends on his conformation, dis- 

 position, and training, with which we are not at present 

 concerned. It goes almost without saying, that a placid- 

 tempered animal would be easier to stop or turn than an 

 excitable one, and w^ould be consequently handier ; but I 

 cannot say that he would be cleverer. I have known several 

 terribly hard-pulling steeplechasers that were as '* clever as 

 cats," and always had a ** spare leg" for every difficulty, 

 provided their rider did not interfere with their mouth , and I 

 have seen other equally stiff-necked, cross-country horses, 

 whose sole delight, no matter how lightly they were handled, 

 seemed to be punching a hole in every fence they met. Some 

 temperate ones are just as *' chancy," apparently, from pure 

 laziness ; though many quiet animals are incapable of making 

 a mistake. 



The points of conformation which conduce to handiness 

 and cleverness are :- 



1. Well set on head and neck, so that the horse may be 

 able to bend readily to the rein. 



2. Light in front (head, neck, and shoulders), and having 

 well-sloped shoulders and oblique fore pasterns, in order 

 that the animal may be able to raise his fore hand with 

 ease, and bring his weight back. 



3. Strong loins. We must remember that the upper loin 

 muscles are '' rearing muscles " (page 52), and that the 

 lower ones assist to bring the hind legs under the horse. 



4. Strong hocks. 



Q 2 



