Xenophon writes: "The neck should not be thrown out from the chest like a boar's, but like a cock's should rise straight up to the poll and be slim at the bend, while the head, though bony, should have but a small jaw. The neck would then protect the rider, and the eye see what lies before the feet."
One cannot go to buy a horse with a tape-measure, but certain proportions are well enough to keep in mind. The length of the head of a well-proportioned horse is almost equal to the distance: (1) from the top of the withers to the point of the shoulder; (2) from the lowest point of the back to the abdomen; (3) from the point of the stifle to the point of the hock; (4) from the point of the hock to the lower level of the hoof; (5) from the shoulder-blade to the point of the haunch. Two and a half times the length of the head gives: (1) the height of the withers and the height of the croup above the ground, and (2) very nearly the length from the point of the shoulder to the extreme of the buttock (Plate XVIII).
One should never judge a man or a horse by his defects and weaknesses, but rather by his strong points and his general proportions. Any political campaign will teach the absolute impossibility, not to say imbecility, of any or all the candidates; and yet one or another of them is fairly certain to give us a respectable government. Tammany has been known to elect an upright mayor; Reform has been known to elect a weak one. There have been trotters and runners of surprising records with numerous defects of build, and we all have one or more equine paragons in the stable that are for sale at a moderate price.
None the less, there are certain defects which should be constantly kept in mind. They are, beginning at the head: a coarse, heavy head, a thick, short neck, a small, sunken eye, a long back, a hollow back (though there have been good racers with sway-backs), flat sides, too much length between last rib and hind quarters (a mare, as compared with a horse, has, as a rule, a lighter neck, a broader pelvis, is higher behind and slacker in the loins), prominent and bony hips, low at the withers, a shallow chest, fore legs too close together and not straight, very straight or very bent pasterns and hocks, much split up between the quarters, tail put on too low and hanging close to the quarters, flat feet, over-big feet, contracted feet.
PLATE XI.—CHILDREN'S PONY
PLATE XII.—CHILDREN'S PONY