GOOD LOOKS. 23t 



after the animal has done some fast or severe work, apply 

 the ear close to one of his nostrils. 



Large calibre and thinness of the walls of the nostrils, 

 which condition predisposes a horse to *'high blowing," is a 

 sign that the animals organs of breathing are naturally good. 



4. Signs of condition manifested by the state of the sweat. — 

 The fatter a horse is, the thicker and more greasy will be 

 his sweat. When a horse is in condition, his sweat will 

 come off like water, will have lost the saline taste it 

 previously had, and, unless the animal is in a state of 

 excitement, it will dry on the skin with extreme quickness, 

 as soon as the work which had opened the pores has 

 been^ stopped. If a horse which has no excess of fat 

 in his system, shows a tendency to sweat on a very 

 slight provocation of work or *' closeness " of atmo- 

 sphere, and if the perspiration thus induced, takes a 

 long time to dry on the surface of the body, we may 

 reasonably conclude that general weakness is the cause of 

 this excessive action of the skin. I may explain that when 

 a horse sweats from excitement (as on a race-course), the 

 surface of the body thus moistened will not dry quickly ; 

 for as long as the excitement lasts, the outpouring of the 

 fluid will more or less continue. 



Good Looks. — Beauty in the horse is dependent :- 



1. On the uniformity of type which the various parts of 

 the body bear to each other. Thus, a Shire or Clydesdale 

 horse, with his Roman nose, loaded shoulders, and short 

 legs, may be quite as handsome as a good-looking English 

 thoroughbred, or a showy, high-caste Arab. 



2. On the artistic arrangement of the lines of his body. 

 We may see the importance of this from a beauty point of 

 view, if, for example, we contrast a photograph of a horse 

 having the ears pricked forward, with another one of the 

 same animal, taken a moment afterwards, but having the 

 ears in a normal position. The former may look handsome, 

 and the latter plain ; although the two may be absolutely 



