On Horsemanship

regibus hic mos est: ubi equos mercantur, opertos inspiciunt, ne, si facies, ut saepe, decora molli fulta pede est, emptorem inducat hiantem, quod pulchrae clunes, breve quod caput, ardua cervix.

and see Virg. "Georg." iii. 72 foll.

In testing the feet the first thing to examine will be the horny portion of the hoof. For soundness of foot a thick horn is far better than a thin. Again it is important to notice whether the hoofs are high both before and behind, or flat to the ground; for a high hoof keeps the "frog," (6) as it is called, well off the ground; whereas a low hoof treads equally with the stoutest and softest part of the foot alike, the gait resembling that of a bandy-legged man. (7) "You may tell a good foot clearly by the ring," says Simon happily; (8) for the hollow hoof rings like a cymbal against the solid earth. (9)

(6) Lit. "the swallow."

(7) Al. "a knock-kneed person." See Stonehenge, "The Horse" (ed. 1892), pp. 3, 9.

(8) Or, "and he is right."

(9) Cf. Virg. "Georg." iii. 88; Hor. "Epod." xvi. 12.

And now that we have begun with the feet, let us ascend from this point to the rest of the body. The bones (10) above the hoof and below the fetlock must not be too straight, like those of a goat; through not being properly elastic, (11) legs of this type will jar the rider, and are more liable to become inflamed. On the other hand, these bones must not be too low, or else the fetlock will be abraded or lacerated when the horse is galloped over clods and stones.

(10) i.e. "the pasterns ({mesokunia}) and the coffin should be 'sloping.'"

(11) Or, "being too inflexible." Lit. "giving blow for blow, overuch like anvil to hammer."

The bones of the shanks (12) ought to be thick, being as they are the columns on which the body rests; thick in themselves, that is, not puffed out with veins or flesh; or else in riding over hard ground they will inevitably be surcharged with blood, and varicose conditions be set up, (13) the legs becoming thick and puffy, whilst the skin recedes; and with this loosening of the skin the back sinew (14) is very apt to start and render the horse lame.

(12) i.e. "the metacarpals and metatarsals."

(13) Or, "and become varicose, with the result that the shanks swell whilst the skin recedes from the bone."

(14) Or, "suspensory ligament"? Possibly Xenophon's anatomy is wrong, and he mistook the back sinew for a bone like the fibula. The part in question might intelligibly enough, if not technically, be termed {perone}, being of the brooch-pin order.

If the young horse in walking bends his knees flexibly, you may safely conjecture that when he comes to be ridden he will have flexible legs, since the quality of suppleness invariably increases with age. (15) Supple knees are highly esteemed and with good reason, rendering as they do the horse less liable to stumble or break down from fatigue than those of stiffer build.

(15) Lit. "all horses bend their legs more flexibly as time advances."

Coming to the thighs below the shoulder-blades, (16) or arms, these if thick and muscular present a stronger and handsomer appearance, just as in the case of a human being. Again, a comparatively broad chest is better alike for strength and beauty, and better adapted to carry the legs well asunder, so that they will not overlap and interfere with one another. Again, the neck should not be set on dropping forward from the chest, like a boar's, but, like that of a game-cock rather, it should shoot upwards to the crest, and be slack (17) along the curvature; whilst the head should be bony and the jawbone small. In this way the neck will be well in front of the rider, and the eye will command what lies before the horse's feet. A horse, moreover, of this build, however spirited, will be least capable of overmastering the rider, (18) since it is not by arching but by stretching out his neck and head that a horse endeavours to assert his power. (19)

(16) Lit. "the thighs below the shoulder-blades" are distinguished from "the thighs below the tail." They correspond respectively to our "arms" (i.e. forearms) and "gaskins," and anatomically speaking = the radius (os brachii) and the tibia.

(17) "Slack towards the flexure" (Stonehenge).

(18) Or, "of forcing the rider's hand and bolting."

(19) Or, "to display violence or run away."

It is important also to observe whether the jaws are soft or hard on one or other side, since as a rule a horse with unequal jaws (20) is liable to become hard-mouthed on one side.

(20) Or, "whose bars are not equally sensitive."

Again, a prominent rather than a sunken eye is suggestive of alertness, and a horse of this type will have a wider range of vision.

And so of the nostrils: a wide-dilated nostril is at once better than a contracted one for respiration, and gives the animal a fiercer aspect. Note how, for instance, when one stallion is enraged against another, or when his spirit chafes in being ridden, (21) the nostrils at once become dilated.

(21) Or, "in the racecourse or on the exercising-ground how readily he distends his nostrils."

A comparatively large crest and small ears give a more typical and horse-like appearance to the head, whilst lofty withers again allow the rider a surer seat and a stronger adhesion between the shoulders and the body. (22)

(22) Or if with L. D. ({kai to somati}), transl. "adhesion to the horse's shoulders."

A "double spine," (23) again, is at once softer to sit on than a single, and more pleasing to the eye. So, too, a fairly deep side somewhat rounded towards the belly (24) will render the animal at once easier to sit and stronger, and as a general rule better able to digest his food. (25)

(23) Reading after Courier {rakhis ge men}. See Virg. "Georg." iii. 87, "at duplex agitur per lumbos spina." "In a horse that is in good case, the back is broad, and the spine does not stick up like a ridge, but forms a kind of furrow on the back" (John Martyn); "a full back," as we say.