682 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



The shoulder of a draft horse should present the proper direction 

 for the collar; the proper angle with the arm, which should approach 

 a right angle, and should be heavily muscled. For speed, long slo- 

 ping shoulders are desirable, with the arm in a verticle rather than a 

 horizontal position. This conformation gives the longest muscles; 

 gives the greatest elasticity, and places the point of the shoulder 

 the farthest in front of the foot, when the latter is upon the ground; 

 enables the foot to be extended more horizontally, and hence is 

 longer in coming in contact with the ground. 



With long, sloping shoulders and a long, horizontal croup go long, 

 eloping pasterns. Long, sloping pasterns give greater speed because 

 the power arm of the lever is shorter, as compared with the resist- 

 ance arm, and give greater elasticity and therefore reduces the se- 

 verity of the concussion. As before stated, draft horses are needed 

 for speed and action, as well as for draft. Sloping shoulders and 

 the sloping pastern also reduces the concussion and thereby in- 

 creases the life of the horse upon the hard streets. It comes to 

 jjass, therefore, that draft horses are liable to be too straight in 

 the shoulders, too straight and too short in the pastern, and too 

 steep in the rump for the market demands, and what is a virtue from 

 the standpoint of securing extreme power becomes a fault when 

 considered from the standpoint of the market demands. 



In this connection, it may be stated, that the upper and lower 

 angles made by the segments of each limb, is larger in the draft 

 horse, while the intermediate angle is smaller than in a horse for 

 speed. This conformation gives the mosf advantageous insertion 

 of muscles on the bones for force and also, on the whole, brings 

 the horse nearer the ground, thus lowering his center of gravity. 

 The depth of chest of a draft horse approximates the distance of 

 the chest to the ground, although the latter distance in the average 

 American draft horse appears to be about one inch greater than in 

 the depth of chest, while the average of thirty-two American stand- 

 ard bred trotters, as measured by Messrs. Johnston and McClelland, 

 class of 1899, Ohio State University, shows a difference between 

 these two measurements of over six inches. 



The length of neck in a horse for speed is of prime importance, 

 because it gives him great facility in the use of his head, which, 

 when he is in motion, is used for precisely the same purpose as a 

 tight rope walker uses his balance pole. An ideal position for both 

 the head and neck is an angle of forty-five degrees Avith the horizon, 

 which makes the angle of the head with the neck a right angle. 

 This position of the head gives the best bearing for the bit; gives the 

 driver the best control of the horse; places the eyes in a position to 

 see the road at the most advantageous distance, and gives free pas- 

 sage of air through the trachea. In a horse for extreme speed, 

 where the track is smooth, the head may be held in a more horizontal 

 position, because it raises the center of gravity and throws it for- 

 ward, thus making the equilibrium more unstable and thereby, as 

 heretofore explained, increasing the speed. For power alone, how- 

 ever, the length of the neck is not important, provided it is well 

 muscled and the head may be held lower and in a more vertical 

 position because the center of gravity is thereby lowered and thrown 

 backward nearer the center of the base. 



