for strength and beauty, and better adapted to carry the legs well asunder, so that they will not overlap and interfere with one another. Again, the neck should not be set on dropping forward from the chest, like a boar's, but, like that of a game-cock rather, it should shoot upwards to the crest, and be slack[17] along the curvature; whilst the head should be bony and the jawbone small. In this way the neck will be well in front of the rider, and the eye will command what lies before the horse's feet. A horse, moreover, of this build, however spirited, will be least capable of overmastering the rider,[18] since it is not by arching but by stretching out his neck and head that a horse endeavours to assert his power.[19]
[16] Lit. 'the thighs below the shoulder-blades' are distinguished
from 'the thighs below the tail.' They correspond respectively to
our 'arms' (i.e. forearms) and 'gaskins,' and anatomically
speaking = the radius (os brachii) and the tibia.
[17] 'Slack towards the flexure' (Stonehenge).
[18] Or, 'of forcing the rider's hand and bolting.'
[19] Or, 'to display violence or run away.'
It is important also to observe whether the jaws are soft or hard on one or other side, since as a rule a horse with unequal jaws[20] is liable to become hard-mouthed on one side.
[20] Or, 'whose bars are not equally sensitive.'
Again, a prominent rather than a sunken eye is suggestive of alertness, and a horse of this type will have a wider range of vision.
And so of the nostrils: a wide-dilated nostril is at once better than a contracted one for respiration, and gives the animal a fiercer aspect. Note how, for instance, when one stallion is enraged against another, or when his spirit chafes in being ridden,[21] the nostrils at once become dilated.
[21] Or, 'in the racecourse or on the exercising-ground how readily he
distends his nostrils.'
A comparatively large crest and small ears give a more typical and horse-like appearance to the head, whilst lofty withers again allow the rider a surer seat and a stronger adhesion between the shoulders and the body.[22]
[22] Or if with L. D. [{kai to somati}], transl. 'adhesion to the
horse's shoulders.'
A 'double spine,'[23] again, is at once softer to sit on than a single, and more pleasing to the eye. So, too, a fairly deep side somewhat rounded towards the belly[24] will render the animal at once easier to sit and stronger, and as a general rule better able to digest his food.[25]
[23] Reading after Courier {rakhis ge men}. See Virg. 'Georg.' iii.
87, 'at duplex agitur per lumbos spina.' 'In a horse that is in
good case, the back is broad, and the spine does not stick up like
a ridge, but forms a kind of furrow on the back' (John Martyn); 'a
full back,' as we say.
[24] Or, 'in proportion to.' See Courier ('Du Commandement de la
Cavalerie at de l'Equitation': deux livres de Xenophon, traduits
par un officier d'artillerie a cheval), note ad loc. p. 83.
[25] i.e. 'and keep in good condition.'
The broader and shorter the loins the more easily will the horse raise his forequarters and bring up his hindquarters under him. Given these points, moreover, the belly will appear as small as possible, a portion of the body which if large is partly a disfigurement and partly tends to make the horse less strong and capable of carrying weight.[26]
[26] Al. 'more feeble at once and ponderous in his gait.'
The quarters should be broad and fleshy in correspondence with the sides and chest, and if they are also firm and solid throughout they will be all the lighter for the racecourse, and will render the horse in every way more fleet.
To come to the thighs (and buttocks):[27] if the horse have these separated by a broad line of demarcation [28] he will be able to plant his hind-legs under him with a good gap between;[29] and in so doing will assume a posture[30] and a gait in action at once prouder and more firmly balanced, and in every way appear to the best advantage.
[27] Lit. 'the thighs beneath the tail.'
[28] Reading {plateia to gramme diorismenous ekhe}, sc. the perineum.
Al. Courier (after Apsyrtus), op. cit. p. 14, {plateis te kai me
diestrammenous}, 'broad and not turned outwards.'
[29] Or, 'he will be sure to spread well behind,' etc.
[30] {ton upobasin}, tech. of the crouching posture assumed by the
horse for mounting or 'in doing the demi-passade' (so Morgan, op.
cit. p. 126).
The human subject would seem to point to this conclusion. When a man wants to lift anything from off the ground he essays to do so by bringing the legs apart and not by bringing them together.
A horse ought not to have large testicles, though that is not a point to be determined in the colt.
And now, as regards the lower parts, the hocks,[31] or shanks and fetlocks and hoofs, we have only to repeat what has been said already about those of the fore-legs.
[31] {ton katothen astragelon, e knemon}, lit. 'the under (or hinder?)
knuckle-bones (hocks?) or shins'; i.e. anatomically speaking, the
os calcis, astragalus, tarsals, and metatarsal large and small.
I will here note some indications by which one may forecast the probable size of the grown animal. The colt with the longest shanks at the moment of being foaled will grow into the biggest horse; the fact being-and it holds of all the domestic quadrupeds[32]-that with advance of time the legs hardly increase at all, while the rest of the body grows uniformly up to these, until it has attained its proper symmetry.
[32] Cf. Aristot. 'de Part. Anim.' iv. 10; 'H. A.' ii. 1; Plin. 'N.
H.' xi. 108.
Such is the type[33] of colt and such the tests to be applied, with every prospect of getting a sound-footed, strong, and fleshy animal fine of form and large of stature. If changes in some instances develop during growth, that need not prevent us from applying our tests in confidence. It far more often happens that an ugly-looking colt will turn out serviceable,[34] than that a foal of the above description will turn out ugly or defective.
[33] Lit. 'by testing the shape of the colt in this way it seems to us
the purchaser will get,' etc.
[34] For the vulg. {eukhroastoi}, a doubtful word = 'well coloured,'
i.e. 'sleek and healthy,' L. S. would read {eukhrooi} (cf. 'Pol.
Lac.' v. 8). L. Dind. conj. {enrostoi}, 'robust'; Schneid.
{eukhrestoi}, 'serviceable.'
II
The right method of breaking a colt needs no description at our hands.[1] As a matter of state organisation,[2] cavalry duties usually devolve upon those who are not stinted in means, and who have a considerable share in the government;[3] and it seems far better for a young man to give heed to his own health of body and to horsemanship, or, if he already knows how to ride with skill, to practising manouvres, than that he should set up as a trainer of horses.[4] The older man has his town property and his friends, and the hundred-and- one concerns of state or of war, on which to employ his time and energies rather than on horsebreaking. It is plain then that any one holding my views[5] on the subject will put a young horse out to be broken. But in so doing he ought to draw up articles, just as a father does when he apprentices his son to some art or handicraft, stating what sort of knowledge the young creature is to be sent back possessed of. These will serve as indications[6] to the trainer what points he must pay special heed to if he is to earn his fee. At the same time pains should be taken on the owner's part to see that the colt is gentle, tractable, and affectionate,[7] when delivered to the professional trainer.
