270 THE FORE LIMB. 



properly shaped, heavy diaught-horse, will always have 

 prominent shoulders, which in him are desirable, so as to 

 give a broad surface for pressure against the collar. 



This question of thickness or thinness of shoulders is 

 very important, especially to hunting men, and has, up 

 to the present, received scanty notice from writers on 

 horses. One of the first points that will strike the ex- 

 perienced horseman when mounted, is the condition of 

 the " saddle muscle," which is the name usually given 

 by London saddlers to the muscle close behind which, 

 on each side, the points of the tree should rest when the 

 saddle is on the animal's back. In a thick-shouldered 

 horse, this muscle will appear as a rounded lump at a 

 point about 4^ inches below the top of the withers (Figs. 

 349 and e, 350). To explain my meaning, I have given 

 in Figs. 348 and 349 sections (view^ed horizontally) through 

 the shoulders of four different kinds of horses, made 

 respectively by a transverse plane passing obliquely from 

 the highest point of the withers through the upper part 

 of the fore-arms, so as to afford a fair idea of the contours 

 of the shoulders at their thickest parts. The direction of 

 this plane is shown by the dotted line a h in Fig. 350. 

 The width of the shoulders will attain its maximum 

 measurement at about half way down, namely at c, on 

 the same figure. The horses shown in Figs. 332 (well- 

 shaped thorough-bred of the ii-stone hunter class), 329 

 (well-shaped 15-stone hunter), and 330 (thick-shouldered 

 thorough-bred of the 13-stone hunter type), measured be- 

 tween the points of the shoulders (width across the breast), 

 respectively, 15, 17 and 18 inches. These photographs 

 have been done on nearly, though not quite the same 

 scale. I think that the width between the fore legs is 

 the best guide for judging the thickness (weight) of the 

 shoulders of a riding horse, as for instance, the thorough- 

 bred mare shown in Figs. 305 and 330. The bad im- 

 pression conveyed, respecting her shoulders, by the former 

 illustration is thoroughly confirmed by the latter. 



