[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]