Carl and Lists: Whew.....got a "ton" of responses to the question of "Near" side and the "off side " for ear marks.......most of those responded with the " near side" to be the left side of a horse where one mounts and the "off side" is the right side of the horse. In the book I have shows pictures of "ear marks" during Deerfield's early years.......the pictures appear to be "ears on top of animal's head"....... Many of the drawings show heads of animals .. looking at it from the BACK of the head..... [just as if you were straddling it].....I am looking at Ebenzer Hindale's ear marks and it shows..... left ( near side) ear is cut in half ....and the right {off side} has a 1/2 circle cut out near the top of the ear. The book states: "Ebenzer Hinsdale his ear mark is a crop on the top of the near ear and a half penny cut on the upper side of the off ear----------". So going by that......those who mentioned the "near side and the "off side" of a horse as most of us would recognize that description.......and applying that description to the back of an animals head for the ear marks would fit according to the drawings in the book. Book: Digging for genealogical treasure in New England: A.S.Lainhart Cynthia Moderator of : Ct-River-Valley-L@rootsweb.com VTWindso-L@rootsweb.com CTHartfo-L@rootsweb.com ----- Original Message ----- Sent: Monday, December 20, 1999 3:53 PM Subject: Re: Fw: [CRV] BRAINSTORMING question from Carl..........."near" and"off " e...> Hi, >>>>>>>>>>>>>It has been the practice for many hundreds of > years to train a horse to be mounted only from the left(near) side, thus > making the right side the "off" side.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > Keep throwing the questions out, I love them. >I love trivia. These questions fall into > that category quite nicely. > >