Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1910-05-20

deep than too fat, 1t may often hap,
pen that on soft and level country
roads a fat foot may not occasion
much trouble. but it Is bad on hard
roads or in cities and is in all cases a
defect In conformation.
The limbs should be clean-that Is,
free from feshiness-but have plenty
Of bone and substance. The fore legs
should be relatively short from the
fetlock joint up to the knee and long
from the knee up to the horses body.
This is a very important point. as no
horse was ever good for much on the
road whose knees were too high mp.
The hind legs should be fat as well
as clean. This excessive ceanness
goes with highly bred horses and Is to
be insisted on In all horses that prop
erly belong in that class. such as thor
Oughbreds, trotters. hackneys. etc. In
colder bloOded horses we should de-
mand at least a reasonable approach
to it. The gambrel joint should be
strong and well developed. near slen-
der or "dandified," and 1t Is also deSir-
able to have it relatively near the
ground. though this is not as impor-
tant as the position of the fore knee.
The horse should stand square on
his legs with his feet we'll under him,
and his hoofs should be straight fore
and aft, neither tOeing in nor tceing
out.
For the body of the horse the back
should be short.
The hind quarters should be well
developed. with the hip joints well
forward. The rump should not be
straight. but rather straight than
droOping-that is, the line from the
top Of the hips to the root Of the tail
should be only moderately oblique.
The shoulders should be slanting. not
upright, and the withers reasonably
high. This conformation makes
strong as well as elegant shoulder.
The body should be nicely rounded,
neither gaunt nor 'pOtbellied," and
should be ribbed well up toward the
hips.
The chest should be deep rather than
wide, giving large lung capacity.
The neck should be free from undue
feshiness. 1t may be either long or
short. as far as utility is concerned.
the long. of course. being much more
elegant and therefore to be preferred
on we'll bred horses. In either case
1t should be bent little just before
the point where it joins the head. so
as to give the conformation that we
call "clean cut in the throttle" a
structure that gives the breathing ap' |
paratus free play.
The head in well bred horses should |
be small and almost as clean and bOny |
as the limbs. The face line viewed |
from the side should be straight. not |
aQuiline. The forehead should be fiat |
between the eyes The eyes should be i
of medium size, set well apart from |
each other and not too near the tap OF
the head, and the head when viewed
from the front should slant in little |
from the eyes upward. The ears
should be fine. thin and pointed and
of medium length. and they should be
so set on that when pointed forward
they are parallel. not slanting apart.
These points Of equine perfection
are absolute, and therefore they apply
to all kinds Of horses. In judging
horses Of different types the difference
must be in the application. not in the
standard Itself. for good horse must
be homogeneous In his makeup. every
part in harmony with other parts. and
every part must have such modifica-
ton and proportion rs conduces to that
end.