EXTERNAL FORMATION i05 



have given above, and in all cases it is to be avoided in the thoroughbred 

 horse, while in some other breeds it must be looked for with great anxiety. 

 It has been proved that good wind may be obtained from a chest possessing 

 great depth without much width, and in some cases with a very narrow 

 bosom, as in the celebrated Crucifix (dam of Priam) ; and as the opposite 

 proportions are incompatible with speed, they must on that account be 

 altogether rejected. The withers are generally thin, and sometimes raised 

 quite into a razor-like form, which, however, is a defect, as it is attended 

 with no advantage to counterbalance the difficulty which it presents in the 

 way of the saddler, who is constantly being called on to prevent his tree 

 hurting the horse's back. A moderate development of the spinous pro- 

 cesses is required to give attachment to the muscles which support the neck 

 and move the shoulder, but the excessive height which we sometimes see is 

 not of the slightest avail for this purpose. 



The next and last component parts of the body are the back-ribs, 

 FLANK, AND BELLY. Here we have chiefly to consider the proper lodgment 

 of the organs of nutrition ; but there is also the junction of the fore and 

 hind quarters to come under review. For both these jDurposes the back-ribs 

 should be long, or, as such a formation is generally called, " deep," so as 

 not only to giA^e protection to the contents of the belly, but to afford a 

 strong attachment to the muscles which connect the chest to the hips. 

 The space, also, between the latter and the last rib should not be large, or 

 there will be an element of weakness ; but if too limited, the action in the 

 gallop will be confined, and the hind-legs will not be brought sufficiently 

 forward. About the breadth of the hand is the proper allowance to make 

 for this space in a horse of average size and make, and either more or less 

 than this may be considered a defect. To obtain this formation, the ribs 

 themselves must be set wide apart, and not huddled up together, as you 

 sometimes see, leaving a great space between the last and the hip. When 

 the back-ribs are long, the lower outline of the belly swells considerably 

 below the level of the girth-place, and a very elegant shape is developed, as 

 well as one generally united with a hardy constitution. Sometimes, it is 

 true, the two are not combined, and now and then we meet with a very 

 good feeder and robust animal with shallow back-ribs ; but the rule may be 

 considered to be as I have stated it, and the purchaser will do well to 

 attend to it in making his selection, when he knows nothing of the 

 character of the individual. For fast road-work, where the failure of the 

 legs is generally the limit to the amount of work, a very heavy carcass is an 

 objection, as it increases the weight upon them ; and an overtopped harness- 

 horse — that is, one with a body too big for his legs — is a most worthless 

 brute ; but in the thoroughbred there is seldom this formation, and the 

 tendency is, on the other hand, to be too light in the flank, rather than too 

 deep. A light-carcassed or herring-gutted horse when " set " for the race- 

 course or the fast hunting country looks cut in two, and his performances 

 generally correspond with his appeai'ance. 



Projecting forward with a beautiful sweep, the neck comes out of the 

 chest in this kind of horse with a most elegant outline. Of a greater 

 length than in any other, it is also pi'oportionally thin ; but both these 

 dimensions may easily be exaggerated, a very long and thin neck being 

 objectioaablo;'' and rarely corresponding with good wind. The lines re- 



