THE EXTERNAL CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. 
317 
The forehead (Plate II, Fig. 1-2) is that part of the head 
between the eyes, extending as high as the top of the cranium, 
the superior border affording a point of attachment for the fore¬ 
lock; the upper portion forms a large part of the wall of that 
cavity which contains the brain, while the lower portion forms 
the forehead proper, a space that is most admired when it is 
broad and flat. 
Connoisseurs in horse-flesh prefer plenty of space between 
the eyes, and some even go so far as to say that a broad fore¬ 
head is indicative of intelligence, but as this part of the bone 
does not cover the brain (the seat of intelligence) it is hard to 
conceive how its shape can control such an important feature in 
an animal. When the space between the eyes is well developed 
that portion of the interior of the head to which the nerve of 
special’sense of smell is distributed would naturally be larger in 
proportion, on that account the smelling power of the animal 
with the broad forehead may be increased, and if it be true that 
the horse is capable of judging of the quality of things by their 
odor, we can then explain why the horse with the broad fore¬ 
head and well developed organs of special sense of smell may 
appear more intelligent than his less fortunate neighbor with 
the narrow one. 
In some instances the forehead is convex in outline, a style 
of conformation which is not regarded with favor from an 
artistic point of view, though it is not likely to interfere with 
the animal from the practical standpoint. 
The face (Plate II, Fig. 1, 3-3) is the region situated below 
the forehead, the bones of the nose forming the principal part 
of it. The outline of the anterior aspect of the face should be 
straight or nearly so, causing the nose to be rather of the 
Grecian order; the sides of the face may be very slightly dished. 
The bones of the nose are often arched, a style of conformation 
that is not only unpopular, but in the extreme it may interfere 
with respiration during severe exertion, owing to the peculiar 
attitude the soft tissues, which form the nostrils, assume when 
hanging loosely from such bones, and their position makes it 
