I've never heard of a 'hog eye' vessel type or the other naughty bits.

Re: Appalachia, minstresly, camp town races &c -

“Hoga, hogu, hige, hyge [Icel. hagr dexter, hagsynn prudens] Prudent, careful, anxious; prudens:–Hogo prudentes, C. R. Mt. 10, 16. Hoga wosan sollicitus, esse, C. R. Lk.12, 11.

Hoga, hoge anxiety of mind, care, fear, R. Ben. 53, v. hige, oga.

Hogan to take heed, v. hogian.
[A Dictionary of the Anglo Saxon Language, Bosworth, 1838]


“Among all the mis-awards at the late State fair we were scarecly more dissatisfied, than to find a crippled, hog-eyed, Eclipse colt, 2 years old, from Clinton county, taking a first premium over a fine little Bellfounder exhibited by Mr. Sullivant.”
[Bellfounder Horses in Ohio, The Ohio Cultivator, Vol.IX, No.6, March 15, 1853, p.1

“...a queer looking, long-legged, short bodied, small-headed, white haired, hog-eyed, funny sort of a genius...”
[Sut Lovegood's [sic] Daddy “Acting Horse,” The Mariposa Chronicle, No.47, Vol.1, December 8, 1854, p.1]

Note: Harris describes the rider as he would the horse.


“A horse with pig eye has a small eye, primarily an aesthetic issue, but claimed by some to be linked to stubbornness or nervousness....

There is actually a scientific explanation for this analysis. Most people think that a pig eye means the horse’s eye is smaller, but in actuality it’s the eye socket that is smaller. The size of the horse’s eyeball doesn’t change, just the skeletal structure surrounding it, dictating how much of the eye you see. It is thought that this limits the animal’s peripheral vision, which makes him more likely to be flighty or to bolt with very little provocation.”