AND BRITISH SPORTSMAN. ON THE HORSE. IN the year 1790, a few noblemen and parts of the country, and in spite of the gentlemen desirous of effecting a reforma-obstacles they experienced from the hostion in the art of Farriery established a Ve-tility of the old Farriers, succeeded in terinary College in this country, under the their endeavours to establish a proper estimanagement and direction of Mr. St. Bell, a mate of the improved system which it was native of Lyons in France. their business both to promulgate and to The institution was considered to be of practice. Since that period a progressive such national importance, that great num-advancement in Veterinary Knowledge has bers of persons resident in distant parts of certainly taken place. Treatises have been the kingdom, although not likely to have published which have thrown much light the benefit of sending their horses when dis-upon the subject, particularly upon shoeing, eased, subscribed to it very readily. and it is not unreasonable to expect that a Some of the principal medical and chirur- still greater degree of improvement may gical lecturers on the human subject, most eventually arise. But much must depend liberally and honourably contributed to its on the patronage and support of those genadvancement by granting permission for a tlemen who take the lead in all matters relatgratuitous attendance at their lectures to the ing to the turf or the field, and from this young men who were entered as pupils to source it is that the question must ultimately study the Veterinary art. Amongst the fore-be decided, whether the Veterinary Practimost of these medical patrons, were Mr. tioner or the Groom is to take precedence in John Hunter, Dr. Baillie, Dr. George For-pretensions to Veterinary skill, and also whe dyce, Mr. Cline, Mr. Ashley Cooper, and Mr. Abernethy. These have been succeeded by others, who, much to their honour, still patronize the institution in the same laudable manner. In process of time several pupils who had gone through a regular course of study, and had obtained a proper certificate of their qualifications, settled themselves in various ther the profession shall be invested with that importance and respectability to which it is fairly entitled, or whether it shall sink to its former state of ignorance and degradation. That the profession has suffered from the incapacity and impropriety of conduct of some who have received diplomas from the college, as well as from the impositions prac Even the waggon-team must partake of the blessings arising from this insatiable propensity to interfere with and to interrupt the course of Nature. Hence, the waggoner, not content with robbing his master's granary of corn to stuff his horses, has recourse to certain old nostrums to give a fine and sleek coat, amongst which it is not an uncommon practice to thrust a new-laid egg in the shell down the animal's throat. An instance of this kind occurred a few years ago in the county of Warwick, where an egg was tised upon the public by others who style themselves Veterinary Surgeons, but who never received any instruction from the college whatever, is unfortunately but too true. But these are evils to which other professions are also subject, and it would be unjust to expect more infallibility and perfection in the Veterinary department than in any other which is carried on by a great number of individuals. The greatest obstacle, however, to the prosperity of the Veterinary practice, is the almost universal influence of persons possessing no qualifications, in matters relat-lodged half way in a horse's throat, and the ing to the stable. animal would have been choaked had not the waggoner confessed the fact, upon which declaration the practitioner who was present broke the shell by pressing the distended part of the gullet, and the animal was instantly relieved. A farmer in the same county, about three years since, lost four fine waggon-horses in consequence of their being subjected to these pernicious practices on the part of the waggoner, who, it appeared, had daily given them a considerable dose of box and mandrake with the view, as he said, of improving their condition. Such instances as these must be fully sufficient to point out the necessity of putting a stop to such silly schemes and idle notions respecting the aniThe celebrated Earl of Pembroke, in a mal economy. The changes which unavoidsmall Essay upon Shoeing, which he pub-ably take place in the animal's constitution lished several years ago, very justly remarks, from the artificial and unnatural custom of that "whoever permits his groom to talk to being kept in a stable, are quite adverse him about shoeing or physicking his horses, enough to his health without the addition of will very shortly and very absurdly find him- deleterious drugs administered according to self on foot." The truth of this observation the whim or the judgment of the ignorant is manifested every day, as many proprietors person who has the charge of him. of horses can, to their sorrow, testify. Nor are the bad consequences of this pretended skill confined to the hunting or racing stable. Their education from their first entrance into the stable is little else than a series of lying and tricking, and their first and principal object is to gain an ascendancy. In order to effect this, they have recourse to those means of making every thing go wrong with which their situation unfortunately so amply supplies them, until at length the master, tired out by constant and secret opposition, || yields up his better judgment and submits to all the nonsense and imposition of his successful opponent. 'Hence it may be truly said that from the first moment the horse is domesticated the contest betwixt nature and the groom takes place. The working ox fortunately escapes all these clever attempts at improvement. It is true he does not labour so hard in general as Perfection, however, is but a comparative quality, and the happy state of ignorance of an unskilled proprietor of a horse may almost be envied, when he is seen riding with the utmost confidence and composure on the back of an animal whose every step threatens a speedy collision with his mother earth. the horse, but he is much worse fed, and || always give the preference to a good-shaped when his day's work is over, he is turned into horse whenever they can find one. the straw-yard to take his chance. The result of this natural mode of treatment is that he never requires bleeding or medicine, as is so often the case with the pampered horse. His work, indeed, is so beneficial to his constitution, that he is supposed to be, at the expiration of his labour, more susceptible of becoming fat, and thereby of better answering the purposes both of the grazier and the butcher. In succession to these preliminary observations, the first object which demands the attention of the reader, is a proper knowledge of the Structure of the Horse, for upon this point the comfort of those who employ the animal, either for business or for pleasure, very materially depends. It is a fact pretty well known to experienced horsemen, that there is not above one horse in fifty that is worth the expense of his keep. They labour, it is true, but they perform the services required of them in such an imperfect manner, that all pleasure is lost to the rider from the constant apprehension of his danger. Vigour of constitution certainly does not wholly depend on the external form of the animal, but it is a positive fact, notwithstanding some few occasional exceptions, that there is a certain shape and disposition of the body and limbs indispensably necessary to produce good and safe action. Dealers and others whose business it is to sell horses will tell a purchaser that " they will go in all forms," but, notwithstanding this doctrine may suit their own convenience at a particular moment, they know better than to trust to zuch an assertion themselves; for they will The motion of animal bodies is produced by the means of muscles acting upon bones in various directions. These are disposed in such a way as to suit the purpose for which the animal was intended. Hence a very perceptible difference of form exists between the pug-dog and the greyhound. Still they are both of the same species, and if a peculiarity of form were not essential to speed, the former would of course have been as fleet as the latter. This is sufficient to prove the necessity of a certain conformation to produce certain properties, and every man well skilled in horses, knows from experience, that there is a particular shape which gives good action combined with speed, although he is incapable of accounting for it on anatomical or mechanical principles. It is certain that the strength of an animal does not depend entirely on his bulk, and this is a very important point to be considered in regard to the waggon-horse, because it must be evident to the most common understanding, that if the weight of an animal body and the muscular strength which is to set it in motion be not in an equal proportion to each other, the size and weight must be an incumbrance instead of an advantage. The thorough-bred or what is called the blood-horse, is indisputably the strongest animal of his weight known in the creatiou. His strength therefore does not depend on his bulk but upon a certain form and disposition of his limbs, as may be readily perceived in nis full and close loin, low hips and muscular -haunches and thighs; a shape very rarely met with in the great black waggon-horses which it has been so many years the fashion to breed in this country. Such indeed is the bulk and weight of these fleshy and unwieldy animals, || that they appear, at a first view, to have been bred more for the butcher than for the waggon, and the mistaken notion, of strength depending upon size, has hitherto been and still continues to be the cause of such a comparatively useless breed being adhered to by farmers in general. intended for the waggon, the coach, or the saddle The true Arabian horse, which is the parent stock of all our blood breed, although he may appear to be slight to a superficial observer, is in reality the strongest horse in nature of the same size and weight. There is a peculiar elasticity of fibre in his composition, and a certain disposition of his limbs that give him a quality of strength which does not immediately meet the eye, but which is easily discovered on a trial. In describing the proper shape of a horse, it will be necessary to begin with the HEAD, which should be small and lean in proportion to the body, and this is particularly essential on account of the neck being horizontal with the ground, and the head becoming thereby heavier than if it was supported in a perpendicular direction as in the human figure. The most beautiful character in the head is manifested when it describes a strait line from the top or vertical bone down to the nostril. This The annual consumption of the produce of the earth by horses in this country, is, when compared with its limited extent, enormous in the extreme, and it certainly is a matter of the first consequence that the greatest attention should be paid to the selection of the best breeds in regard to form,and properties, with the view, if possible, of perforining the same quantity of labour, with a considerable reduction in the number kept for that pur-is peculiar to the Arabian horse. The forehead should be broad and flat, the eyes pro pose. The ear should be placed rather backwards, which gives a greater boldness to the forehead. But it generally happens that every farmer minent, and the eye-lids elevated, lean, and who possesses a mare, whether well or ill-flexible. shaped, is determined to breed from her under the idea that if she produces any thing in the form of a horse it will find a ready sale. Hence it occurs that the country is stocked with a race of animals fit for little else than to consume the produce of the earth. The principal object to be attended to in breeding of horses is to attain strength without superfluous weight, and this maxim holds good in every respect, whether the horse is The horse's ear, like the cow's, the deer, the sheep, the hare, and all other quadrupeds that save themselves from danger by flight, is moveable backwards and forwards, so as to catch sound in every direction, and it is remarkable that a horse, whilst sleeping, keeps his ears in constant motion, one of them be ; ing generally inclined forward and the other || mits of being moved in various directions backwards at the same time. it is also longer in grazing animals than in others, for the purpose of reaching the ground ||for their food. The shape of the neck, however, is much influenced by extraneous circumstances, and, in old coach-horses that have been accustomed to be reined up several hours in the day, it becomes so fixed and rigid, as to prevent them from reaching the To the credit of the present day, the foolish custom of cropping is nearly if not entirely exploded, and it is to be hoped that the equally absurd practice of trimming out the hair from the inside of the ears will eventually share the same fate. The branches of the lower jaw-bone should be open and expanded, so as to give room for the trachea or wind-ground with their mouths when turned to pipe, and to facilitate the bringing in of the head close to the neck. This conformation is particularly necessary to carriage and military horses, which are generally required to carry their heads high and reined up. The nostrils should be thin, large, open, and flexible, the mouth small, and the lips deep and pliable. Much of the good or bad manner of a horse's carrying his head depends on this last circumstance. THE NECK grass. The German breeders have a custom of feeding their colts out of high mangers, so as to oblige the animal to bend his neck in an arch-like form, and this practice being persisted in for a certain length of time gives the neck and forehead a more elevated and grander appearance. THE SHOULDERS are so essential to the purposes of the whole animal machine, that their conformation becomes a matter of the first importance. Their connection with the body is most admirably contrived both for support and motion, from being joined to the trunk by muscles only, and not by any joint as is the case with the hind quarters. The fore part of the body, therefore, is simply slung between the shoulders by means of muscles, the lower ends of which are fixed between the ribs, and the is a very important part as far as it relates to the carriage of the head, and also in regard to its influence on the action of the shoulders. Its lower extremity should issue high out of the chest, as the opposite form produces what is called an ewe neck, in which case the animal, when pulled by the bridle, constantly throws up his head with his nose strait out, so as to be prevented from seeing his road, a cir-upper ends uniting in one mass are attached cumstance particularly dangerous in an im- to the inside of the shoulder-blade. By this petuous or runaway horse. A thick neck is arrangement the shoulders possess a free mogenerally a sign of strength, and it is always tion both backwards and forwards, and they much thicker in a stallion than in a gelding, also escape in a considerable degree that perhence it is customary with some breeders to cussion or shock which arises from the body let their colts be three years old before they being propelled forwards upon them, and are castrated, with a view to give them a which would have been much increased had fuller and more elevated crest. The neck they been attached to the trunk by a fixed being composed of seven distinct bones ad-joint. It is generally considered a good point |