CONFORMATION 



171 



PLATE VIII. 



The muscles of the shoulder need hardly be described in 

 detail, it being sufficient for the ordinary observer that that 

 part should be muscular and generally well developed, 

 special attention, however, being bestowed on two, the 

 anconoBus longus and the anconoeus externus, which arise 

 from the lower bone of the shoulder and are inserted into 

 the point of the elbow, above which they form a prominent 

 swelling. Their office is to straighten and extend the arm, 

 and therefore need to be powerfully de- 

 veloped. Nor do the muscles of the back 

 require any lengthened comment, for the 

 latissimus dorsi covers the whole, ex- 

 tending from the shoulder to the haunch ; 

 it is the principal one employed in raising 

 the fore- or hind-quarters in rearing or 

 kicking, and also in leaping. It is strongly 

 attached to the processes of the vertebrae 

 and ribs, and when the latter are well 

 arched and the muscle is correspondingly 

 well developed, the general appearance 

 should present "a good flat back," that 

 well-known desideratum. A perfect back 

 should be of this description, with the 

 shoulders and withers sloping so far back, 

 and the arch formed by the lumbar 

 vertebrae coming so far forward, that there 

 is barely room for the saddle between the 

 two. Such a formation is very powerful, 

 and the best for carrying weight ; and it 

 should also ensure the fore-legs being well 

 away from the hind ones, showing plenty of length under- 

 neath. If the horse has a long back it is a source of 

 weakness unless it is of the shape known as a "roach-back." 

 Such horses are usually good jumpers, the typical little 

 arch being frequently alluded to as "the jumping bump." 

 Long-backed horses are almost invariably easy in their 

 paces, and are in request by some persons for this reason. 



Seen from the outside of the "arm" are three very import- 

 ant muscles (Plate VIII.), which together give it its typical 



