CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CONFORMATION AND ACTION

In the horse shows an exhibitor, except in the Thoroughbred classes, is not required to furnish the pedigrees of his horses. The judges, therefore, decide entirely on conformation and action. These two things are what make or unmake the excellence of the individual animal. A well-formed horse is apt to have good action. Sometimes this is not so, just as sometimes a woman may have beauty of form and feature and lack animation, vivacity, and that infinite variety and sympathy which recently we have accustomed ourselves to call temperament. Good conformation in a horse, however, is the advantage which conduces to good action. When action and conformation supplement, adjust, and confirm each the other, we have what may be called an approach to the ideal horse. I have never seen the ideal horse; but pretty close to it. I have owned a few that were very satisfactory, but never one that was entirely so. Still I have hope. I suspect that when one realizes his ideal in anything, life loses some of its zest. The pursuit, the seeking, the longing for the unattained—these are the things that make life so interesting, so absorbing. If I had the horse I have long had in my mind I should be glad, no doubt. But I might be sorry, too. There is one saving fact, however. We change our ideals as we get more experience and further knowledge. I have changed my opinions often about horses, since I first became interested in them. While writing the last chapter of this book I confess that I have changed some of my opinions during the two or three months that I have been engaged in the composition. I have learned some things that I did not know before; I have parted with some prejudices which I ought never to have entertained. So it was inevitable that I should modify my views. If, therefore, I should ever obtain my ideal in horse-flesh I might awaken a few weeks later to find that I really wanted something just a little different. I seek the ideal, therefore, without fear of achieving it and meanwhile I have lots of fun with horses that are not more than half what they ought to be.

The oldest writer on horses was Xenophon. He says: “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.”

Xenophon is the oldest writer on the subject. Mr. Price Collier is the latest and in many regards the best, because he not only knows how to write, but knows what he is writing about. Here is what he says about the proportions of a well-formed horse:

“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 blades 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.”

The tape-measure test is all very well, but if a man does not have an eye for a horse he will never be able to select a good one by mathematics. And an eye for a horse is a singular endowment. I have known men of proved intellectuality quite incapable of learning about horses. Also I have known men who, in the ordinary affairs of life were very fools but who knew good horses by a kind of instinct. The man with an eye for a horse takes the whole animal in at a glance; his minute examination, in nine cases out of ten only confirms his instant judgment. When I am buying a horse I do not need to hesitate very long. I have inspected and bought as many as twenty in a day, giving not more than fifteen or twenty minutes to each horse. Yet these purchases in the main have been satisfactory. No one of them, however, was my ideal.

In a general way, all horses should have certain points. Therefore general rules apply in all the types, from the Pony to the Percheron. Every horse should have (1) a bony head and small ears; (2) medium-sized eyes, neither protruding nor sunken, and without an excess of white in the pupil; (3) the forehead should be broad; (4) the face should be straight and neither concave nor convex; (5) the neck should be small and lean, its length regulated by the size of the head and the weight of the shoulders, the head being so joined to the neck that the neck seems to control the head instead of the reverse; (6) the shoulders should be oblique or sloping; (7) the back should be short; (8) the ribs should be well rounded, definitely separated and full of length; (9) the legs should be flat and lean, with knees wide from side to side and flat in front, the upper bone of the leg being long and muscular in proportion to the lower or the common bone; (10) the feet should be moderately large; (11) the pasterns should be long rather than short, but, better still, neither long nor short; (12) the hair should be short and fine.

I might have added another point, making thirteen in all, but for luck I stop at the dozen, feeling sure that if any of my readers gets a horse with the good points noted he will have a treasure beyond the lot of most men and maybe far beyond his deserts.

A well-formed horse ought to have good action. This does not always follow. But good conformation without good action is a kind of disappointing fraud. The best action is that which is natural to the horse. We expect this in families and in types. But training can modify the action of a horse, indeed, change it entirely as when a pacer is converted into a trotter. With pacers, however, I am not concerned as I presume that this book is written for gentlemen.

There can be no good action which is not straight. In the walk, the trot and the gallop a horse must move his feet and legs in parallel lines. The horse that does that naturally can be taught the other things that may not come to him by nature—high stepping, for instance. When a horse moves always without paddling or any other lateral motion, he is a very fit subject for cultivation. He can be taught to go daintily and gracefully as our grandmothers walked through the _minuet de la couer_. Throwing the feet far out in front or lunging, as it is called, is a very ugly trick and can be remedied in the shoeing, I am told. I believe this to be true, but I have never tried it. A horse with this inclination always seemed to me badly bred—Hambletonian, for instance—and I have not recently bothered with such. Paddling also can often be corrected by shoeing. General rules cannot be laid down as to these things. Each horse has his individuality. He must be so studied. When an owner brings general knowledge and acute intelligence to this study he can determine in a little while what is best to be done in each case. In the great majority of cases the best plan is to sell the horse that seems unpromising, but as no horse is ever entirely satisfactory some of them must be retained and educated by training, a training dominated by gentleness, courage, firmness and patience—but most of all patience.

THE END

INDEX

ABDUL AZEEZ, SULTAN OF TURKEY, 31

ABD-EL-KADER, 18, 23

ABDALLAH, 116, 128

ABRAHAM, 18, 19

ABDALLAH, XV, 175

ABDUL HAMID II, 146

ACTION AND CONFORMATION, 272

AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT, 111

ALASKER TURK, 25

ALEXANDER, ROBERT A., 54, 55

ALIX, 132

ALEXANDER’S ABDALLAH, 171

AMAZONIA, 116

AMERICAN STUD BOOK, 41

ANDREW JACKSON, 86, 104, 136

ANCIENT SCULPTURES, 6, 7

ANDERSON, EDWARD L., 6, 235, 250

ANDALUSIAN (JACK), 198

ARMENIA, 6, 20

ARAB AND BARB, vi, vii, 14, 15

ARISTIDES, 70

ARION, 134

ASIA, 6

AUTOMOBILES AND ELECTRIC TRAMWAYS, iv

AXTELL, 134

BARBARY, 13, 14

BARRS, 183, 184

BASSETT, HARRY, 66, 67

BATTELL, COL. JOSEPH, 80, 85, 107

BERBER BARBS, 13

BELLFOUNDER, (IMPORTED), 117, 119

BELLE MEAD FARM, 70

BEND OR, 70

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 10

BELMONT, AUGUST, 55

BEACON COURSE (HOBOKEN), 105

BETSEY HARRISON, 152, 153

BEN BRUSH, 74

BLACK HAWK, 88, 90, 106

BLUE GRASS, 148, 221

BLUNT, WILFRID, 33

BLACK DOUGLAS, 112, 139

BONHEUR, ROSA, 179

BOSTON BLUE, 131

BOSTON, 56

BONNER, ROBERT, 133

BONNIE SCOTLAND, 69

BOX-STALLS, 224

BOGUS (LOOMIS’S) SON OF LAME BOGUS BY ELLIS’S BOGUS, SON OF IMP. TOM BOGUS, 107

BOURBON BELLE, 71

BRITISH HORSE, 8

BREEDING ON FARMS, iv

BRONCHO BUSTERS, 238, 263

BRAMBLE, 69

BRUTUS MORGAN, 85

BREAKING AND TRAINING, 262

BRUCE, MR., 142

BREEDING TO A TYPE, v

BUFFALO BILL, 238

BULRUSH MORGAN, 86, 92, 93

BULLE ROCK, 40

BULL CALF, 131

BUYING A HORSE, 210

BYERLY TURK, 25, 40, 80

CARMON, 170, 174, 175

CANADA, 9

CASSIUS M. CLAY, 139

CAVESSON, 265

CALASH, 10

CATALAN, JACK, 190, 198

CARLYLE, W. L., 176

CABELL’S LEXINGTON, 166

CHANGING THE LEAD, 249

CHARLES KENT MARE, 117, 119, 121

CIVIL WAR, viii, 208, 236

CIRCUS TRICKS, 236

CLAY-KISMET, 145, 177

CLAY-ARABIAN, v, 13

CLEVELAND BAY, 8, 182

CLYDESDALE, v, 178, 182

CLAY, HENRY, 190

CONTINUITY IN BREEDING, vii

CORTEZ, 8

COLUMBUS, 8

CONEY ISLAND JOCKEY CLUB, 70

COLONIAL ERA IN NEW ENGLAND, 10

COLLIER, MR. PRICE, 256, 274

COMMISSIONS TO COACHMEN AND GROOMS, 218

CONFORMATION AND ACTION, 272

CONTINENTAL RIDERS, 237

CONESTOGA, 120

COLEMAN’S EUREKA, 166

CRUSADERS, 24

CRESCEUS, 132, 175

CUTTING A DASH, 258

CUB MARE, 41

DARLEY ARABIAN, 16, 25, 27, 36, 40, 80, 101, 168

DANIEL LAMBERT, 90

DAVY CROCKETT, 166

DAUMAS, GENERAL, 18, 22

DEXTER, 94, 132, 139, 140

DEALERS, 216, 217

DE LANCEY, COL., 41, 80

DENMARK, v, 13, 27, 69, 129, 130, 152, 153, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 163, 166

DE LESSEPS, COUNT FERDINAND, 21, 22

DIOMED, 12, 42, 43, 44

DOMINO, 72, 73

DOBBINS, 73

DOBLE, BUDD, 94

DORSEY, L. L., 92

DOMESTICATION OF HORSE, 5

DRACO, 93

DRIVING, 251

DUKE OF MAGENTA, 70

DUKE OF MONTROSE, 70

DUTCHMAN, 104, 105, 132, 133

ECLIPSE (AMERICAN), 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 100

ECLIPSE, 29

EDWIN FORREST, 132

EGYPT, 6

ELDERLY RIDERS, 247

ELECTIONEER, 139

EMPEROR OF NORFOLK, 71

ENGLISH RIDERS, 237, 238, 239

EOCENE HORSE, 3

EOLUS, 70

EQUITATION, 234

ETHAN ALLAN, 89, 93, 94, 95, 111, 175

EVOLUTION OF HORSE, 4

FALKLAND ISLAND HORSES, 5

FALLS AND TUMBLES, 248

FARM HORSES, iv

FAIRFAX, JOHN, 189

FASHION, 56

FAIR RACHEL, 41

FALSETTO, 70

FIRENZI, 71

FEARNAUGHT, 93

FEEDING AND WATERING, 231, 232

FELLOWCRAFT, 64

FIRST INSTRUCTION IN RIDING, 242

FOREST DENMARK, 164

FOUR-IN-HAND, 261

FOXALL, 70

FLYING CHILDERS, 27, 28, 43

FLORA TEMPLE, 94, 106, 110, 111, 114, 115, 132

FLEMISH HORSES, 8

FLANDERS, 9

GEORGE WILKES, 140

GEORGE M. PATCHEN, 111, 112, 139

GORDON HORSE (MORGAN), 85

GOLDSMITH MAID, 132

GODOLPHIN BARB, 16, 25, 29, 36, 80, 102, 168

GOVERNMENTAL BREEDING FARMS, vii, 167

GIFFORD MORGAN, 91

GOLDDUST, 32, 91, 92

GLIDELIA, 69

GLORIOUS THUNDER CLOUD (LAWSON’S), 177

GRAY EAGLE, 51, 52

GRAND BASHAW, 136

GRENADA, 70

GRINSTEAD, 70

GROOMING, 226

GREEN MOUNTAIN MAID, 139

GRANT, GENERAL, 32, 141, 209

HAMILTONIAN (BISHOP’S), 122, 123

HAGGIN, JAMES B., 55, 72

HAMILTON BUSBEY, 116, 118, 124

HAMBURG, 71, 73

HANOVER, 71

HARRISON CHIEF, 171

HARRY CLAY, 139, 140

HARNESS ROOMS, 226

HATS AND GLOVES, 253

HACKNEY, v, 185, 186

HAMBLETONIAN, 77, 79, 92, 96, 112, 113, 114, 115, 118, 120, 123, 139

HEDGEFORD (IMP.), 152, 153

HENRY CLAY, 86, 112, 133, 136, 137, 171, 175

HINDOO, 71

HIGHLAND DENMARK, 164

HIMYAR, 70

HIGHLAND MAID, 106, 132

HORSEBACK RIDING IN NORTH, viii

HORSEBACK RIDING IN SOUTH, ix

HOLDING THE REINS (RIDING), 246

HOLDING THE REINS (DRIVING), 254, 256

HONEST ALLEN, 90

HOLMES, DR. O. W., 150

HUNTINGTON, RANDOLPH, 13, 30, 32, 86, 136, 140, 141, 143, 144, 145

HYRACOTHERIUM, 3

IDEAL HORSES, 272, 273, 274

INDIAN RIDERS, 241

ISHMAEL, 18

ITALIAN (JACK), 198

JAPANESE CAVALRY, ix

JEFFERSON, PRESIDENT, 31

JOHN DILLARD, 166

JONES, MR. J. L., 191

JOCKEY-SEAT, 250

JOGGING, 255

KATE, 4

KEENE, JAMES R., 55, 65, 70, 72

KHALED, 146

KENTUCKY, 44, 52, 148, 149, 150, 151, 158, 159, 160, 162, 163, 235, 236

KENTUCKY’S EARLY STALLIONS, 53, 54

KENTUCKY HUNTER AND ONE-EYED KENTUCKY HUNTER, 107

KINGFISHER, 70

LATH, 41

LADY SURREY, 86, 137

LADY SUFFOLK (HER BREEDING AND PERFORMANCE), 105, 106, 124, 132, 133

LEOPARD, 32, 141, 146

LECOMPTE, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63

LEXINGTON, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 142

LEEDE’S ARABIAN, 25

LINDEN TREE, 141

LIKE BEGETS LIKE, vi, 39, 128

LINSLEY, D. C., 79, 82, 85

LONGFELLOW, 67

LORILLARD, P., 65

LORD CLINTON, 90

LOU DILLON, 132

LORD BRILLIANT, 170

LUCRETIA BORGIA, 51

LUKE BLACKBURN, 69

MASSACHUSETTS, 9

MACE, DAN, 95

MAMBRINO, 101, 116, 118, 119

MAMBRINO CHIEF, 175

MAGHREB, 23

MADAM TEMPLE, 107, 109, 110

MARY SHEPPARD, 146

MARKHAM’S ARABIAN, 25, 28

MAJORCA (JACK), 198

MALTESE (JACK), 198

MAMMOTH (JACK), 191

MAUD S., 132

MESSENGER, 12, 31, 42, 44, 77, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 120, 136

MEXICO, 9

MILLER’S DAMSEL, 44, 100

MISS WOODFORD, 71

MONGRELS, vi

MORGAN, v, 13, 27, 31, 69, 75, 76, 79, 129, 146, 151, 171, 173, 175, 185

MOORISH INVASION OF SPAIN, 23

MORRIS, LEWIS G., 116, 119

MORRILL, 93

MORGAN, JUSTIN, 41, 79, 82, 85, 87, 88, 92

MORGAN EAGLE, 91

MONARCHIST, 70

MOUNTING A COLT, 267

MONTGOMERY CHIEF, 164

MULE COLTS (TREATMENT AND FEEDING), 204, 205

MULES (FATTENING FOR MARKET), 206

MUSTANGS, 31

MULES, VALUE OF, 187

NANCY HANKS, 132

NARRAGANSETT PACER, 10

NEOHIPPARION, 4

NEJD, 13, 14

NEJDEE, ARABS, 13

NIMROD, 146

NORFOLK TROTTER, 185

NOSTALGIA (HOME-SICKNESS), 217

NO FOOT NO HORSE, 228

NORMANS, 8

ORLOF, v, 13, 16, 183, 184, 186

OSBORN, PROFESSOR, 9

PAT CLEBURNE, 166

PAUL PRY, 104

PATCHEN, MR. GEO. M., 137

PATRICK GIL, 58, 59

PARTHENON FRIEZE, 7

PELHAM, 106, 132

PEARL BY FIRST CONSUL, 137

PETER’S HALCORN, 166

PERCHERON, v, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182

PHAETON, 65

PHILIPPINES, 146, 163

PLUMBING IN STABLES, 223

POLKAN, 183

POLICE RIDERS (N. Y. TRAFFIC SQUAD), 241

POSITION OF FEET IN RIDING, 244

POITOU (JACK), 198

POTOMAC, 153, 154

PRINCESS, 111, 112

PRIORESS, 65

PURDY, 47, 48, 50

QUINCY, JOSIAH, 45

RARUS, 132

RANDOLPH, JOHN, 47, 48, 49

RANDOLPH HORSE, 85

RATTLER, 105

REVOLUTIONARY WAR, 11, 42

REVENGE, 85, 86

RICHARD OWEN, 3

RICHARDS, A. KEENE, 32, 33, 166

ROMANS, 8

ROYAL GIFT, 188

ROBERT MCGREGOR, 175, 176

ROCKINGHAM, 137

ROXANA, 29

ROUGH RIDERS, 239

RUSSIAN CAVALRY, ix

RUNNING AWAY, 258, 259

RYSDYK, WM. M., 117, 121, 123

SANTO DOMINGO, 8

SAMPSON, 101

SALVATOR, 71, 72

SALES, FROM PRIVATE STABLES, 213, 214

SALMON, DR. D. E., 167, 176, 177

SENSATION, 70

SPRINGBOK, 70

SPENDTHRIFT, 70

SHEBA, QUEEN OF, 19

SHERMAN MORGAN, 85, 87

SHOW RING HORSES, 216

SHOEING, 229, 230

SILAS DEANE, 10

SIR ARCHY, 43, 44, 57

SIR HENRY, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 100

SMETANKA, 183, 184

SOLOMON, 18, 19

SOUTH CAROLINA JOCKEY CLUB, 41

SPANISH HORSES, 8

SPEEDWAY (N. Y.), 128

SPURS, 246

SPIRIT OF THE TIMES, 109

STOCKTON, COMMODORE, 56

STUMP THE DEALER, 166

STANDARD BRED TROTTER, v, 114, 115, 124, 126, 139

STABLE CONSTRUCTION, 220

STABLE DRAINAGE, 220

STABLE VENTILATION, 220

STUD BOOK, ENGLISH, 25

ST. JULIEN, 132

SUNOL, 132

TADOUSAC, 9

TEN BROECK, RICHARD, 57, 58, 63, 64, 65

TEN BROECK, 65, 67

TENNY, 72

TEYSUL, KING OF NEJD, 31

THORA, 71

THE BARD, 71

THE ABBOT, 132

THOROUGHBRED, v, 13, 27, 40

TOM OCHILTREE, 70

TOM HAL, 166

TOP GALLANT, 104

TROUBADOUR, 71

TRAINING AND BREAKING, 262

TROTTING HORSE DRIVERS, 252

TRACY, GEN. BENJ. F., 129

TREATMENT OF A TIRED HORSE, 227

TREDWELL, JOHN, 116, 120

TURF, FIELD AND FARM, 124, 129

UNCAS, 70

UPTON, MAJOR ROGER D., 30

VALUE OF HORSES AND MULES IN U. S., 111

VAN METER’S WAXY, 166

VERMONT MORGAN, 91

VIRGIL

VIRGINIA, 9, 40

WARFIELD, DR.

WAGNER, 51, 52

WALLACE, WM. H., 20, 94, 95, 124, 126

WARRANTIES, 215

WALTERS, MR., OF BALTIMORE, 178

WASHINGTON, GEORGE, 188, 189

WARRIOR (JACK), 190

WASHING AND USE OF WATER, 228

WADSWORTH, GEN. WM., 138, 139

WELLS, GENERAL, 58

WEATHERBY, MESSRS., 25, 101

WEST POINT RIDERS, 240

WEASEL MORGAN OR FENTON HORSE, 85

WILDAIR, 41

WINTHROP MORRILL, 93

WOODBURN, 54

WOODRUFF, HIRAM, 104, 111, 119

WOODBURY MORGAN, 85, 90

XENOPHON, 274

YOUNG BASHAW, 136, 137

YOUNG TRAVELER, OR HAWKINS HORSE, 85

ZILCAADI, 31

THE McCLURE PRESS, NEW YORK

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. Added CONTENTS. 2. Changed ‘sooner of later’ to ‘sooner or later’ on p. 148. 3. Silently corrected typographical errors. 4. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed. 5. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.

End of Project Gutenberg's The Horse in America, by John Gilmer Speed