SPECIAL TYPE IN HORSES
Our breeds of horses may be divided into three general classes. Those used for speed, those for draft and those with a mixture of the two—a general purpose sort of horse. The speed or trotting horse has its distinct type; it has been evolving and developing through a long series of years.
Briefly, its conformation may be described as follows: A wide forehead, fairly long head, a long neck that is thin and agile, a narrow chest as you look at it from the front, but very deep as you look from the side, long sloping shoulders, rather long back, a long horizontal croup, small barrel, fairly long forearm, long cannon bones and feet that are well shaped and perfect in every respect. Looking at the animal from the side it should be as high over the hips or higher than over the withers.
The draft horse, on the other hand, has a different conformation. There is not that elongation of his parts, although there is a symmetry of parts and of proportion. There should be the width between the eyes; the clean, neat face; a graceful neck, which should be shorter and more heavily muscled than that of the speed horse. The chest should be wide, both from the front and side, the back short but heavily muscled, the croup strong and not so horizontal as with the speed type, the quarters heavily muscled and the cannon bone short.
The feet should be as perfect as those of the speed horse. In both types the knee should be thick, deep, and broad and the hocks wide. The narrow hock is not so well able to stand heavy strain, consequently curb diseases readily follow where the conformation shows narrow hocks. Another difference between the two types is found in the muscles. The speed type throughout has long, thin, narrow muscles—muscles that stretch a long way and contract quickly.
BAD ATTITUDES DUE TO CONFORMATION
In the first, the toes are turned out. The middle picture shows in-kneed attitude and the third shows in-turned toes. Whether standing or traveling, the appearance is unpleasant and mitigates against the value of the animals.
With the draft horse it is different: the muscles are shorter, but they are heavy; they are less quick in their action, but they are more powerful. In both types good proportions are always desirable. The width between the eyes should be as much or more than one-third the length of the head. The distance from the point over the shoulders to the ground should be about equal to the distance from the point over the hips to the ground; and in turn this distance, whatever it is, should be about equal to the length of the horse from the point of the shoulder to the point of the buttock.
Looking at the horse in front if a line be dropped from the point of the shoulder it should halve the fore leg, the knee, the cannon, and the hoof. And the width of the third hoof, if placed between the two front feet, should give the attitude that is desirable.
Looking at the horse from the rear, the same attitude is to be observed. Of course, many horses do not possess these qualities and proportions; and because they do not is the very reason that their beauty, efficiency, and value are less.