The withers should not be too high, nor too thick, but of medium dimensions. High withers are difficult to fit a saddle to, and a horse with low withers is not suitable for riding purposes. The back should be short and strong. The loins must be muscular, short and broad. They can hardly be too short, and can never be too wide.

The ribs should be well hooped and deep, so as to give plenty of room for the heart and lungs. They should reach well back, so that there is not much space between them and the point of the hip (i.e. the horse should be 'well ribbed up'). The shoulder should be long and sloping. The forearm should be long and muscular, broad at the elbow, with muscles well denned, and tapering towards the knee. The knee should be big, broad and flat. The cannon should be short, broad and flat when viewed from the side, and narrow when viewed from the front, with the tendons standing out clearly. The line of the tendons should be straight, and the leg should look the same width below the knee as just above the fetlock. Good measurement here is called 'plenty of bone', but this includes the tendons as well as the bone, and really means 'good tendons'. The pastern should be strong and of medium slope. A short straight pastern means loss of elasticity, and long sloping ones mean lack of strength. (This does not apply to Arabs, whose slope is sometimes considerable.) The foot should be round, wide at the heel, with well-formed 'frog' underneath. The quarters should be muscular and full of flesh. They are divided into various categories: straight, drooping, goose-rumped, round and ragged hips, are names which suggest their appearance. The thighs should be long and muscular. The prominent muscles there are called either 'second thigh' or 'gaskins'; the tendon at the top is the 'ham string'. The hocks should be large, with prominent points, and they should be well apart. If they turn inwards they are called 'cow hocks', and if not well 'let down' are described as 'sickle'. The hind-quarters are the propelling force, and must be muscular and full. For speed they should be long and deep; for strength, breadth is necessary.

PURCHASING A HORSE

When purchasing a horse:

1. Note how he stands in the stable. He should be on all four feet, and should not point or favour one, especially a foreleg.

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