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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: "Mem." III. i. 7.
[5] Cf. Hor. "Sat." I. ii. 86:
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
 On Horsemanship |