joints; and this conformation also lessens concussion, by increasing the elasticity. Horses that are very short in their backs, generally trot wide with their hind-legs, especially those that are what is termed cat-hammed; that is to say, with their hocks standing close together, and their feet at some distance from each other; by this manner of moving their hind-legs, they avoid striking or overreaching their fore-feet, as their hind-feet alight on the ground on the outside of their fore-feet. There is also another method of going, by which short-backed horses escape overreaching; and that is, by trotting a little side-ways, like a dog; by which means, one hind-foot comes between the two fore-feet, and the other hind-foot on the outside. This method of going, however, is unpleasant to the rider; because, if he sits in a straight direction, he cannot so well adapt the motion of his own body to that of his horse, which is constantly carried in an oblique position, and he is therefore obliged to sit with one shoulder more advanced than the other, although he is going in a straight line of direction. It is a common opinion that blood horses never make fast trotters. This, perhaps, may arise in some measure from their never being selected for that purpose. But as all fast trotting, beyond a certain rate, becomes a run, it is evident that the length and pliancy of the legs of the blood horse, together with that elongated or darting action which they all show in the trot, is not adapted for that short or quick step by which the common hack is distinguished. THE FOOT MAY justly be considered as the most important part of the whole machine; for upon its sound and healthy condition the utility of the animal chiefly depends. From the universal frequency of its diseased state, it might almost be supposed that it was more defective in its original construction than any other part; but such a conclusion is not warranted by the evidence of nature in any of her primordial arrangements. The fact is, that the surface of the earth, which in its original state is soft and yielding, is rendered hard and inelastic by the substitution of denser materials in the composition of artificial roads. The constant and inordinate degree of labour which the cupidity of commerce, and the calls of luxury, have imposed upon the animal, is such as would consume the foot much more rapidly than it could grow or be reproduced, were it unprotected by the shoe. It is to these causes, therefore, that we should look for the source of nine-tenths of the lameness with which the horse is so often afflicted. For however skilfully the shoe may be formed and applied to the hoof, still the result of shoeing will ever be pernicious in a greater or less degree, because the foot must be subjected to an unnatural restraint, counteracting the radical principles of its constitution and economy. The hoof of a colt, antecedently to its being shod, describes nearly a circular form, and is widest at the lateral parts or quarters. The utility of this shape must be selfevident, inasmuch as it increases the basis upon which the foot stands, and thereby gives greater stability to the animal during progression. The external parts of the hoof are usually divided into three; namely, the wall or crust, (which is the part issuing from the pastern to the ground), the sole, and the frog. At its uppermost part, which is called the coronet, the hoof begins, either by a gradual change of the skin into the horn, or by some peculiar vessels which produce the transformation. The coronet, therefore, is softer, more flexible, and more sensible, than the lower part of the hoof, which increases in density and insensibility as it approaches nearer the toe. The horse's hoof may be said to be partially cleft, as the heels are divided from each other, the intermediate space being filled up by an elastic substance called the frog. From this arrangement, the heels possess, in a small degree, the power of expansion and contraction, but which action is almost totally prevented by the confinement occasioned by the shoe. The difference of shape between the foot of the horse, and that of all other quadrupeds of the herbiverous tribe, is well worthy the attention of the naturalist, as it very distinctly points outs the purposes for which he was created. Hence, had the hoof been cloven throughout, like that of the ox, the deer, the sheep, or the goat, he would not have been so well adapted for carrying burthens, nor for drawing heavy substances, as he is by its solid and circular form in front, which affords him a greater point of resistance than he could have obtained from the more flexible and yielding motion of the cleft hoof. The sole is composed of the same horny material as the wall, but it is somewhat more elastic. It would be partially worn away by friction against the ground, if the animal were unshod, but it would be re-produced by its own natural growth in the same manner as is the case with the wall. A moderate degree of friction and pressure against the earth is essential to its healthy state; hence, by being constantly elevated above the ground by the shoe, it becomes more tender, and more susceptible of injury. The surface of the sole, in its natural healthy state, is somewhat concave. This shape not only gives the foot a greater hold of the ground, but removes the principal part of the pressure arising from the weight of the body to the edges of the wall and to the frog. The sole, like the root of the hoof, is constantly growing, but this perpetual increase would be kept down sufficiently by the friction were the horse unshod, and in a state of nature, but the sole being raised considerably above the ground by the shoe, no part of its surface is worn away; hence the superfluous part detaches itself in scales, which becoming dead and destitute of moisture, breaks off spontaneously. Horses whose feet are weak, sometimes have the sole even convex, by which the orlginal plan of the hoof is completely subverted both in regard to the proper points of support, as well as to the firmness of its position on the ground. ON THE EXCELLENCE OF ENGLISH WE quote the following remarks on the superiority of our horses, from a French writer :- "It is scarcely two years ago that we were greatly superior to them in this respect, and that Henry the Fourth sent to Queen Elizabeth some beautiful horses, from the stud at Berri, which were much finer than any that England possessed at that period. We have also seen in our own time, Bourgelat and Chabert send stallions from Normandy into England, of an excellent quality, which were disregarded by us, and undervalued, but which the English, who were better judges than ourselves, knew well how to appreciate. We are at this day behind hand upon this point with almost all the rest of Europe. Above all, the English have not only far surpassed us, but they have had the address to profit by our negligence and our indolence, to which may also be added, our ignorance, in turning to their own use horses which we despised, or of the properties of which we were incapable of forming a just estimate. The stallion known by the name of the Godolphin Arabian, was bought at Paris for eighteen louis-d'or, as a horse of little value, and from which we had obtained no stock. He produced afterwards in England, Babraham, Mask, Regulus, and several other excellent race-horses; for the descendants of which we have since paid enormous prices. It is therefore to be hoped, that as we become more enlightened, and more sensible of our true interests, and favoured by the beauty of our atmosphere, and the salubrity of our climate and our pasturages, we shall hasten to regain what we have lost by our apathy, and employ in the improvement of the breed of our horses, those excessive sums which we are obliged to export in the purchase of those of which we are in want. "The English horses are the most celebrated in Europe, but their establishments for breeding being not so complete as ours, and their climate in no part of it to be compared to the south of France, we evidently have many advantages which they do not possess. "The crossing of the Arabian and other Asiatic horses with the English breed, and the farther cross |