High crest, short ears, straight legs and passing strong,
Thin mane, thick tail, broad buttock, tender hide—
Look, what a horse should have he did not lack,
Save a proud rider, on so proud a back.”
But the horse of Shakespeare’s day was not the horse of Tom Hal’s day.
“Round-hoofed, short-jointed, fetlocks shag and long,” doubtless expressed the Norman blood that Shakespeare knew. To-day the round-hoofed ones are plugs, the short-jointed ones are cart horses, and those with fetlocks shag and long are close kin to the Mustang.
But the rest of it was Tom Hal:
“Broad breast, full eye, small head and nostrils wide,
High crest, short ears, straight legs and passing strong.”
Yes, all this was the first Tom Hal—and more.