On the Art of Horsemanship

His neck should not hang downwards from the chest like a boar’s, but stand straight up to the crest, like a cock’s;[*](The horse should not be cock-throttled.) but it should be flexible at the bend; and the head should be bony, with a small cheek. Thus the neck will protect the rider, and the eye see what lies before the feet.[*](He will not be a star-gazer.) Besides, a horse of such a mould will have least power of running away, be he never so high-spirited, for horses do not arch the neck and head, but stretch them out when they try to run away.

You should notice, too, whether both jaws are soft or hard, or only one; for horses with unequal jaws are generally unequally sensitive in the mouth.

A prominent eye looks more alert than one that is hollow, and, apart from that, it gives the horse a greater range of vision.

And wide open nostrils afford room for freer breathing than close ones, and at the same time make the horse look fiercer, for whenever a horse is angry with another or gets excited under his rider, he dilates his nostrils.

A fairly large crest and fairly small ears give the more characteristic shape to a horse’s head.

High withers offer the rider a safer seat and a stronger grip on the shoulders.

The double back[*](That was before the days of saddles, and horsemen had a tender interest in the double back—the characteristic back of dappled horses.—Pocock, Horses, p. 118. Duplex agitur per lumbos spina, says Virgil Georg. 3.87.) is both softer to sit on than the single and more pleasing to the eye.

The deeper the flanks and the more swelling toward the belly, the firmer is the seat and the stronger, and as a rule, the better feeder is the horse.

The broader and shorter the loins, the more easily the horse lifts his fore quarters and the more easily he brings up his hind quarters. And, apart from that, the belly looks smallest so, and if it is big it disfigures the horse to some extent, and also makes him to some extent both weaker and clumsier.