236 THE TRUNK. 



up as horses. Hence, a little slackness in the hollow of 

 the flank is not such a grave fault in them as in entires and 

 geldings. The fact, however, remains, that for all purposes 

 of work, a horse or mare cannot be too well ribbed up. 



Merche remarks that : " Among common horses, the 

 last rib is less arched and less carried back than among 

 blood horses ; and the flank consequently appears longer." 



St. Simon, among many other great race-horses, was 

 an instance of a fine stayer who possessed singularly little 

 depth at the withers, but had great roundness of chest 

 behind the girth, and also fair depth of body at the lowest 

 point of his back. It is essential for the race-horse to obtain 

 good breathing power by roundness of ribs, so that his body 

 may have its powers of breathing fully developed without 

 its length and weight being unduly increased. 



The great advantage of depth in the front portion 

 of the chest is to allow of good length of shoulder-blade, 

 which is indispensable to the weight-carrier and jumper. 



Abdomen. — We have seen on p. 50 that the trunk 

 is divided by the diaphragm into two portions, the chest 

 and abdomen ; the former containing the lungs and 

 heart ; the latter, the stomach, liver, intestines, bladder 

 and other organs. The ribs form the walls of the chest. 

 The contents of the belly (consisting mostly of the in- 

 testines) are kept in their place chiefly by powerful liga- 

 ments, the principal one of which is the abdominal tunic 

 (p. 40), and by muscles. These structures are respectively 

 attached to the margin of the front part of the pelvis, 

 to the rear part of the breast-bone, rearmost edge of the 

 ribs, and to the sides of the loin vertebrae, thus bridging 

 over the vacant space. We may, then, fairly assume that 

 the lines of the abdomen should form a continuation of 

 the general contour of the chest. As the straight muscle 

 of the abdomen which covers the lower portion of this 

 cavity, is the chief muscle that bends the back ; the horse 

 cannot be thoroughly " fit " for work, if this muscle is 



