128 
LECTURES ON HORSES. 
we may, however, there is in every brute an expression of face pe- 
culiar to him or his kindred by which we may not only recognise 
him better than by any other distinctive character, but in a very 
great degree judge of their tempers and capabilities. The large 
head not infrequently possesses a face whose aspect is recommenda- 
tory, or of a character so open and good-tempered as to assure us 
of the tractability and willingness of its possessor ; circumstances 
under which it would be wrong, unless it were in the case of a race- 
horse, to object to it. I have known a great many good big-headed 
half-bred horses — hunters, roadsters, &c. — with faces of kindly ex- 
pression : at the same time I must join in the universal anathema 
pronounced upon big, ugly heads, and particularly when combined 
with sour, ill-tempered countenances. 
The head includes within it three great cavities or compart- 
ments: — one occupying the summit, forehead, and temples, for 
holding the brain ; a second, extending from the forehead to the 
muzzle, including the fore part of the face, for containing the ap- 
paratus for smelling ; a third, known as the mouth, in which are 
fixed the instruments for the mastication of the food : in addition 
to which the head furnishes lodgment for the organs of sight and 
hearing — the eyes and the ears. The throat, likewise, is a part 
of very great importance: it includes the larynx, or entrance- 
door into the windpipe, and a fulness of it externally is an indica- 
tion that this aperture is of ample dimensions, and well-constructed 
for the purposes of respiration : in other words, a full throat, or 
throttle, is one of the signs of “ good wind.” In fact, as a gene- 
ral observation, we may assume, that the capabilities of parts are, 
cceteris paribus, commensurate with their development. The Ara- 
bian, or blood head, affords a good illustration of this. Its noble 
broad forehead vouches for an ample share of sagacity ; its promi- 
nent nose and dilated nostrils, coupled with fulness about the 
throat and width across the jowl, shews that ample provision has 
been made for the olfactory, respiratory, and manducatory appa- 
ratus : so that, small as the blood head at first view appears, it, in 
point of fact, is large, or rather capacious, in every part where de- 
velopment of the contained organs is required. Thus, that which 
is set down as the handsomest of heads, turns out, on examination, 
to be the most serviceable of heads : in this, as, indeed, in most — 
in all — other instances in the animal economy, utility and beauty 
go hand in hand. 
The Muzzle, as all the inferior or most dependent part of the 
head is called, including the nostrils and lips and mouth, is very 
characteristic of the breed or species. Observe what a difference 
exists between the muzzles of a low and a high-bred horse : the one, 
broad and flat and mean-looking, emerging from a line more or less 
