THE COUNTENANCE INDICATIVE OF A HORSES TEMPER.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4606, 9 October 1883, Page 2

THE COUNTENANCE INDICATIVE OF A HORSES TEMPER.

There is a notion abroad that a horse who " shows the white of the eye,'' is indined to be vicious; and, like many ot&er notions of the sort, this appears to have had some truth for its foundation, though the truth has been somewhat distorted in the deductions. Animals in general show only the transparent part of the eye; man and the hog are among those in whom the white of the eye in prominent. Some horses show the white of the eye naturally ; many do so by a habit of turning their eyes upon any person approaching them, and this particularly when they are in their stalls, and which glance ascant necessarily discloses more or less of the white of the eye. Now, this oblique or retrospective cast of the eye may certainly be—and mostly "is, perhaps—-ac-companied with some thought or inclina* tion of biting or kicking; but, on the other hand it may be the effect of habit, of a playful disposition even, and so may not portend any evil. We have met with many cases .of both descriptions where vice was, and where vice was not present, but we cannot add that we have encountered such a majority of the former description as to pronounce " showing the white of the eye " an infallible indication of a vicious disposition. While speaking on the subject of the eye, we may add that there is a very great variety in eyes, and in the expression given by them; hence one reason for the interminable differences in the countenances of animals as well as of man. An over-full, or exceedirg prominent eye, has a' sort of' unnatural expression about it which often turns out to amount to "foolishness," and sometimes such horses appear to be near-sighted. Opposed to this, we meet with the small, sunken, dark -looking eye,which creates a suspicion about temper, ;flnd particularly when an, expression pf, what-is.called " sourness " is to be observe,d in it. We have seen several instances of; yioiousness in horses with such eyes, and therefore are biassed against them; at the same time we have known horses with such sour, ill*tempered looking eyes/after having been cured of their rice, turn out to be the best of their kind. ■