GENERAL HISTORY OF THE HORSE. 
413 
If a horse is required for speed, do not choose one which 
hoMs his head high, as such is incompatible with a great 
stretch; consequently the style and bearing of a horse in¬ 
tended for show and park use is very different from those 
intended for rapid action ; and these latter always carry 
their heads low. It is the habit of blood-horses always 
being trained to go over a smooth and level surface, which 
is the cause of their not lifting, being unaccustomed to meet 
with obstruction in their way. The hunter, on the con¬ 
trary, being subjected to all kinds of ground, soon acquires 
the habit of lifting his feet sufficiently high to enable him 
to surmount all the difficulties which he must constantly 
encounter. The style of their gallop must also be essen¬ 
tially different : that of the racer, a lengthened stretch; 
and of the hunter, a rounded gallop. 
CHAPTER XVIIL 
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE HORSE, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF 
DIFFERENT BREEDS. 
Plutarch says a good man will take care of his horses and 
dogs, not only while they are useful to him, but also after 
age renders them unfit for service. A beautiful illustration 
of this benevolent maxim is recorded of the Athenians, who, 
when they had completed the building of the Hecatompedon, 
set at liberty the animals employed in its erection. It is 
related that one of these at the head of his fellow-labourers, 
some time after the completion of the temple, led the way 
2 D 
