PLATE VII.—POLO PONY
PLATE VIII.—LIGHT-HARNESS HORSE
The ribs should be well rounded from above to below, should be definitely separated, and of full length. A horse with flat, short ribs near together must, anatomically, be lacking in power. The chest should be deep, but not excessively wide. The depth of the chest measured around should be large. When a horse is pointed out to you as being "well ribbed up," this does not mean that a line drawn from the bottom of his chest along his belly should slope abruptly upward like a greyhound; on the contrary, the loins and back, at the point slightly behind where the cantle of a saddle would come, should be broad, flat, and powerful-looking, and there should be no appearance of being tucked in, or tucked up, at the hinder end of the back and loins. A line drawn around the horse's body from the top of the withers to the elbow-joint, and from the point of the hip to the stifle-joint, would include between them where the horse lives, and this valuable space should be roomy and enclosed in muscular, but elastic, walls. If you put a tape around a well-developed and well-bred polo pony 14.2 in height, around his barrel just behind his fore legs, he will measure 66 to 68 inches; around his barrel just in front of his hind legs 61 to 63 inches. The same measurements for a well-bred horse 15.2 will be from 70 to 73 inches, and from 65 to 67 inches respectively. These are the proportions of an animal "well ribbed up" in the best sense. "Tucked up" or "tucked in" would mean that the measurements are smaller in proportion, behind. In looking over your prospective horse, therefore, see that his body be well rounded out not only in front but also behind, so that the last ribs look to be long, well rounded, and having but a small space—two or three fingers—between themselves and the point of the hip. Depth, shortness, and roundness of body are the essentials (Plate VII.).
As for the legs, the upper bone should be long in proportion to the lower or cannon-bone, and should be large and well supplied with muscle. The elbows should stand out far enough from the body to insure freedom of action. The knee should be wide from side to side, flat in front, and thick from before to behind. The leg just below the knee should not look disproportionately small, or "tied in" as it is called, but should be as large as other parts of the lower limb. The tendons that run down behind the cannon-bone should not adhere closely just below the knee. This bone (cannon-bone) between the knee and the fetlock should be short, straight, and strong. The fetlock—the upper and lower pastern bones—should be of moderate length and neither too sloping nor too straight. Out of a number of horses those with the best pasterns were those who stood the following simple test: Drop a line with a weight on it from the shoulder opposite the middle of the leg; in the case of the perfect pastern the line should end immediately behind the hoof. If the line drops in front of the heels of the hoof, the pastern is too straight; if behind, the pastern is too flexible.
The hoof of the horse corresponds to the claw or nail in other animals, and is made so that it forms a solid, tough, horny case around the expanded end of the toe. This non-sensitive substance renews itself from within as friction and work wear it away.
The feet of the horse should be moderately large, with the heels open and the frogs sound and with no sign of contraction. Big, spreading, awkward-looking feet mean weight to lift, coarse breeding, and usually a dull, heavy disposition. Smallish, round hoofs mean just the contrary.