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A Treatise on Farriery..

other part should never be too low, but always ftraight, unless as just mentioned. In this cafe, the fore hand will rife very well.

When the back of a horfe is higher behind than before, he is apt to be pinched in his shoulders, is very unfightly, and generally weak. Befides, it renders the back parts fo heavy, that they generally have an aukward gait, and move flowly. A horfe fhould be home-ribbed; but the short ribs fhould not approach too near the haunches, for then he would not have room to fetch his breath. Thofe that are open ribbed, are of a lax texture, are loofe in the flanks like a greyhound, and confequently weak. Befides, they are narrow over the chine, have little or no belly, are. not fit for a long journey, and will carry no great weight.

When a horfe's back is very fhort in proportion to his bulk, and yet otherwife well-limbed, he will hold out well enough upon a journey; but he is flow, and never makes a good appearance. When he is tall at the fame time, with very long legs, he is worth little. His flanks fhould not be hollow, but fmooth and full:

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cough, and farts frequently, with

conftant working of the fundament. His noftrils likewife work as in a fever and yet he has no great heat or much abatement in his appetite.

A thick winded horfe fetches his breath often, and fometimes rattles and wheefes. This may be always difcovered by putting him to brifk exercife. This defect is fometimes accidental, as when a horfe is foggy or foul fed, or is newly brought home from a rank pafture, or has had a cold that has injured his lungs. When it is natural, it may be owing to a narrow cheft, or when he is rib. bed home too close.

We need fay nothing of the glanders in this place, nor many other evident defects and difeafes because none but ignorant buyers can overlook thefe, when any fuch horfes are offered to fale.

The temper of a horse is a prin cipal thing to be obferved, but is not very readily known, unless to fuch as are greatly accustomed to their tricks. However, there are figns by which their difpofitions may be pretty well diftinguifhed; for a vicious horfe ge nerally lays his ears close to his

likewife his hind parts, or upper-poll, thews the whites of his eyes

moft haunches, fhould not be higher than his fhoulders: and when his back is a little arched behind the faddle, it is a fign of ftrength, and a fitnefs for hunting as well as travelling.

The wind fhould never be overlooked in the choice of a horfe. When he is brokenwinded, it must be after he is fe ven or eight years old, and may be easily known by his flanks when he ftands quiet in the 'stable; for he always pinches them in with a very flow motion, and then drops them fuddenly. When he is very bad, he has a violent

and looks fullen and dogged. Some have a frowning look, and carry anger in the countenance, W hich may readily be discovered by thofe who have had frequent opportunities of obferving them They feem to ftand in a posture. of defence, holding up their heads very high, and advancing one of their hind legs forward, which they rest on their toe: as it were, preparing to kick the perfon that comes near them. When a horse is very vicious, he pays no regard to the groom that feeds him, nor puts on a more pleasant countenance.

However,

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A Treatise on Farriery.

However, fome horfes that are ticklish, will lay back their ears, but they have a pleafant look with their eyes, and catch hold of the crib Some do the fame from a playful difpofition.

A horfe that is fearful, and apt to start, often endangers the rider's neck. It is a difpofition feldom vanquifhed till he is old and ufelefs, or harraffed by conftant travelling, which renders all kinds of objects familiar. But this will be no abfolute fecurity, if any unusual fight fhould ap. pear. This temper may readily be difcovered by his crouching, creeping and starting.

catch hold of the edge of the manger, fuck in the air, and gulp it down till they are fometimes ready to burst. This vice is readily discovered, for he will do it openly in the ftall. Likewife his fore-teeth will appear to be much worn; and if he has been long ufed to it, they will not meet in some places by the breadth of one's finger. Coachhorses are much given to it, and can never be made to leave it off. Crib-biters are of little value, for they almost always look lean and jaded, with a flaring coat; they are unfit for labour, and fubject to the gripes and other diseases.

A hot, fretful horfe, is never able to endure any fatigue, for he is foon spent, and unfit to perform his task. A long journey horfe, A long journey will deprive him of his flefh, and make him appear like a jade, only fit for the dogs. Long reft may restore him, fo as to be able to undergo another. But fuch as thefe can be of no long duration; for they are liable to many accidents and difeafes. A horfe of this kind will difcover his fretful temper as foon as he gets out of the ftable, and will not leave it off till he has loft his fpirits.

Upon the whole, it is not fufficient that every fingle part of a horfe, when taken to pieces, fhould be well-formed, beautiful, and free from blemish, but he fhould make a good appearance when taken altogether, and every limb fhould have a juft fymmetry and proportion with regard to all the reft. When this is the cafe, little trifling defects are of no moment, especially when a horfe's motions are eafy and graceful, and all his paces fprightly, juft, and regular.

The colours of horfes are greatly dif-diverfified; but the chief are the bay, the chefnut, the brown, the black, the dappled grey, and the forrel. As for the white, it is not an original colour, but proceeds from the grey, which turns fooneft to a white the lighter it is; efpecially if it has little or no dark mixture about the joints.

The temper of a dull, heavy, fluggish horfe is hard to be guiled, whatever tricks may be made ufe of to put him in fpirits. Some ufe fharp fpurs, others eudeavour to roufe him by the cracking of the whip, and others again place fome prickly thing under his tail. But any of thefe only put him into a hurry, without concealing his natural difpofition, as a good judge will readily perceive. However, fuch horfes as thefe will last long, and may be very useful for fome fort of work.

...There are other horfes which may be called crib-biters. Thele

A bright bay horfe has commonly a reddish dash; his mane and tail are black, with a dark or black lift down his back. He has a pleasant agreeable fhining afpect. A dark bay horfe has his knees and pasterns almost always black. And fome forts are

black

A Treatise on Farriery.

139

towards their bellies and flanks than elsewhere; and fome are

black from their knees and hocks downward. Those that have no lift down their backs, are gene-light about their muzzles. Those

rally black over their reins, which changes gradually from dark to light, towards their belly and flanks. Bays in general are accounted a good colour, unless they meet with any bad accidents while they are very young.

The hairs of chefnut coloured horfes are, at the points, of a pale brown, the middle is dark, and the roots of a light colour. The mixture is not very diftinct and apparent to the eye; and many have their manes and tails very near the colour of their bodies, with but little white about their legs, and commonly no mark. Whereas the hair of the sorrel is often compofed of feveral colours intermixed, wherein the fox.colour is generally predominant, with a good deal of white about their legs and pafterns. Many have a large blaze, and others are quite bald all over the face, with manes and tails of a fandy or flaxen colour. There are different degrees of both thefe colours. Some chefnut horfes have manes

and tails as light as the forrel, while the hair of their bodies is of a fallow colour, ftained with a kind of a beautiful chefnut.

The chefnut horfe is generally preferable to the forrel, unless the former happens to be bald or party-coloured, or to have white legs. A forrel horfe that has much white about his limbs, is apt to be more faulty in his feet, and of a more tender conftitution than thofe that are of a more uniform colour.

of this colour that are dappled are accounted much handfemer than the rest.

Horfes of a fhining black, that are well marked, not having too much white, are in high esteem for their beauty. A ftar or blaze, or white muzzle, or one or more feet tipt with white, are thought to be rather better than thofe that are entirely black; as being generally lefs ftubborn, and of a fweeter temper. Black horfes that are brownish on the flanks and hips, with brown muzzles, are called black-browns, which are generally of a good constitution. When their muzzles are of a lighter colour, they are faid to be meally mouthed. Thofe that have a white circle round their eye-lids, have their fundaments often white, and have the appellation of pigeon-eyed. Bays and chefnuts are often more hardy than large black horfes of the English breed.

Of greys, the dappled are accounted the beft. The filver greys make a beautiful appearance, and often prove good; the iron greys with light manes and tails, are not thought to be fo hardy. All greys turn white in process of time; but the light plain greys, and the pigeon-coloured greys, fooner than others; and the dap, pled grey laft. The nutmeg-grey when the dappled parts incline to bay or chefnut, are esteemed good hardy horfes.

Roan horfes have a diversity of colours mixt together; but, the Brown horfes are fometimes very white is more predominant than dark, and fometimes more light the rest. When there is a mix and have almost always black ture of the bay or nutmeg, it renmanes and tails. Their jointsders them of an afpect agreeable are often of a rufty black. They enough. Some of thefe roans are almost all of a lighter colour look as if they were powdered

and

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A Treatise on Farriery.

and fome as if milk was thrown | tygers, or deer, with my colours,

on their buttocks. Some feem to be fprinkled with pot, lampblack; and fome as if their faces had been dipt in a bag of foot. They are generally hardy and fit for the road. Some are exceeding good.

Strawberry-coloured horses are fomewhat like the roan, but moftly resemble the forrel. They are often marked with white on the face and legs, but not without a mixture of the roan. When the bay is blended with it, he feems to be tinctured with claret, and this is looked upon as a very high colour, but is not common. Some of this fort turn out to be good horfes.

The dun, the fallow, and the cream-coloured horfes have a lift down their backs, and their manes and tails are black. The lift of the dun and lead colour becomes lighter gradually, like the back of an eel; whence they are faid to be eel-backed. Dun horfes ́are very feldom chofen, and yet they may be very useful for country farmers. The fallow and the cream-coloured horfes are in higher esteem, as well for beauty as ufe; efpecially if their muzzles and joints are black, as well as their manes and tails; fome have thefe laft of a filver colour, without any abatement of their good. nefs. The fallow and the tawny duns are often fhaded with a darker colour, or are faintly dappled, and when they are well matched, make a fine appearance as coach-horfes.

Some horfes are diftinguished by a peach-colour, the ftarling, and the flea-bitten: but thefe partake of the colours already mentioned, to which they may be referred. Some again are Snely fpotted like leopards or

as yellow, red, &c. with black; on which account they are a great rarity, and are chiefly put into the hands of great men on that account. Others are fo ftrangely bedaubed with a difagreeable variety of odd colours, that they are generally made drudges of, as being fit for nothing else.

The marks of a horfe are by fome regarded in a fuperftitious manner, being fuppofed to be lucky or unlucky, or at least to denote their good or bad qualities. But this has no foundation in experience. However, when a horfe is well marked, he is certainly more beautiful, and has more fprightliness and vivacity in his afpect.

The most common mark is a far. And when the white defcends from thence pretty broad towards the nofe, it is called a blaze. When there is a smaller line proceeds from thence in the fame manner, it is faid to be a frip; and when the greatest part of the horfe's face is covered with white, he is faid to be bald. A ftar is never beautiful unless it be of a moderate fize; nor is that face becoming which is all over white, defcending to the bottom of the cheeks. A fnip fhould always be ftrait, for when it is awry, it is difagreeable. When ftars or blazes are fringed with black hairs, as in fome of the browns, they look pretty enough; but then their faces foon grow grey, which gives them an old look. But it is otherwife with the greys and forrels, who generally have their ftars and blazes fringed with their own colour.

(To be continued.)

Te

Fidelity in Dogs.-Anecdote, of E. W. Montague, Efq. 141

To the Editors of the Sporting

Magazine,

Gentlemen,

collection

out of the way of his hiftory, purely to defcribe the lamentable cries and howlings of the poor dogs they left behind. He makes

READING lately a cold, by mention of one who followed his

of voyages and travels, by Churchill, I found the following fingular mode of treatment which that noble animal the horse receives from the natives of Morocco, after they have made the pilgrimage to Mecca; as it is curious, I think it may claim a corner in your excellent Repofitory, And am, Gentlemen, Your humble fervant, CURIOSUS.

June 14, 1794

"In Morocco," fays Churehill," the natives have a great refpect for horses that have been the pilgrimage to Mecca, where Mahomet was born; they are called hadgis, or faints; fuch horfes have their necks adorned with ftrings of beads, and relics, being writings wrapped up in cloth of gold, or filk, containing the names of their prophet: and when thofe horfes die, they are buried with as much ceremony as the nearest relations of their

Owners. The king of Morocco has one of them, which he caufes to be led before him when he goes abroad, very richly accou tred, and covered with thefe writings; his tail being held up by a chriftian flave, carrying in one hand a pot and a towel, to receive the dung, and wipe the pofteriors.

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LUTARCH, relating how

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mafter across the fea of Salamis, where he died, and was honoured with a tomb by the Athenians, who gave the name of the Dog's Grave to that part of the island where he was buried. This refpect to a dog, in the most polite people in the world, is very obfervable.

A modern instance of gratitude. to a dog (though we have but few fuch) is, that the chief order of Denmark (now injuriously called the Order of the Elephant) was inftituted in memory of the fidelity of a dog named Wild Brat, to one of their kings who had been deferted by his fubjects: he gave his order this motto, or to this effect, (which ftill remains) "Wild Brat was faithful." Sir William Trumbull related a story

which he heard from one that was

prefent: King Charles I. being with fome of his court during his troubles, a difcourfe arofe, what fort of dogs deferved pre-emi nence, and it being on all hands agreed to belong either to the fpaniel or grey-hound: the king gave his opinion on the part of the greyhound; "because," said he, "it has all the good-nature of the other, without the fawning." This may be confidered as a good piece of fatire upon his courtiers.

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the Athenians were obliged I your former Numbers, that

to abandon Athens, in the time of Themistocles, steps back again VOL. IV. No. XXI.

HAVE obferved in feveral of your former

you have given anecdotes of remarkable perfons, which I very

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much

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