THE EXTERNAL CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. 
315 
conformation met with in commercial horses of the present 
day, and many correspondents express a keen desire to be 
informed on all points in connection with the subject of this 
bulletin. 
Before describing the points of the animal it may be well, 
first of all, to define the expression we so often hear, “ a good 
horse /” and will do so by saying that associations have led us 
to regard a good horse as one which excels in many ways, fails 
in few, and is not remarkably deficient in any point. Of course 
that is treating the question somewhat broadly, for some horses 
are able to trot at a very high rate of speed, and are regarded 
as good horses by those who look upon speed as the chief 
feature in their ideal animal; yet these same animals may be 
affected with forms of unsoundness that would cause them to be 
rejected in any show ring, and the same may be said of horses 
used foj- the performance of -any special duty. 
I do not think it makes any particular difference where we 
begin with the description of a horse, for if we do the work 
thoroughly we eventually cover the whole animal; but as it has 
always been our custom, in work of this kind, to start with the 
head we will continue in that line here; indeed, in some respects 
the head may be regarded as the frontispiece of the animal, it 
being the feature above all others which imparts the physiog¬ 
nomy or expression to the creature. 
The head may be divided for the convenience of description 
into the following regions, viz.: The ear, poll, forehead, face, 
nostrils, muzzle, mouth, cheek, eye, lower jaw and jowl, inter¬ 
maxillary space. 
The ears (Plate II. Fig. 1-1) are situated towards the sides 
of the top of the head, and, like many other parts of the horse, 
are subject to differences of opinion in the minds of individual 
horsemen as to their proper size and shape, as well as to their 
position upon the head. Some like what they call good large 
ears set well apart, while others prefer much smaller ones and 
made up in a more delicate manner throughout. As far as our 
own observation has gone, the ear which has most admirers is 
