Bibliothèque mondiale du cheval

« Much as Englishmen pride themselves on being good "judges" of a horse, the fact remains that exact ideas on the important subject of Conformation are current neither in the traditions of our " horsey " people, nor in our literature. The few English authors who have written on it, have done so in a fragmentary manner, and have contented themselves for the most part with laying down rule-of-thumb maxims for the blind acceptance of their readers. The French, on the contrary, have written on l’exterieur several elaborate books upon which they have expended an amount of scientific knowledge that does them infinite credit. It must be admitted that although they have proved themselves, in this respect, much superior in scientific research to our country-men; their works seem to show that their experience has been gained more in the study and dissecting room, than in the stable and in the field. Both classes of authors, I venture to submit, have erred in trying to make general rules suitable to all kinds of horses, instead of pointing out that the standard of shape should, to a great extent, vary according to the work demanded. I may mention that illustrations of horses or of special "points" of these animals drawn without the aid of photography, having a bias difficult to be repressed, render the ideas of the artist more accurately than they portray the realities of nature. In the attempt to conform to the requirements of truth, I have, as far as practicable, relied on photography for illustration. This art not alone gives exact representations with marvellous minuteness of detail, but has completed the solution (begun by Professor Marey ) of the once vexed question of the action of the horse’s limbs during the various forms of movement, and has accordingly afforded us, in our present study, data which are as instructive as they are reliable. As I have written this book for non-scientific readers, as well as for those who desire to thoroughly master the subject; I have placed in small print the few chapters which I have devoted to the anatomical and mechanical details which were necessary to render the work complete. […] » Présentation de l’éditeur (1896)

« London, 1885. » Huth (1887)