THE DOMESTIC HORSE. 167 



like ourselves," continues Colonel Smith, "has repeatedly 

 owed life to the exertions of his horse, in meeting a hostile 

 shock, in swimming across streams, and in passing on the 

 edge of elevated precipices, will feel with us, when con- 

 templating the qualities of this most valuable animal, emo- 

 tions of gratitude and affection which others may not so 

 readily appreciate." 



The struc- " ^^ e ^ eaut 7 f tne f rm ^ tne horse has often 

 ture of a been commented upon, his structure is thus admir- 

 Horse. a ^j v described by a writer in " Cassell's Magazine 

 of Art" : " His nature is eminently courageous, without ferocity, 

 generous, docile, intelligent, and, if allowed to be so, almost 

 as affectionate as the dog. In his structure, the ruling charac- 

 teristic may be said in one word to consist in obliquity all 

 the leading bones in his frame are set obliquely, or nearly 

 so, and not at right angles. His head is set on with a subtle 

 curve of the last few vertebrae of the neck, which at the 

 shoulders, take another subtle curve before they become the 

 dorsal vertebrae, or backbone; which end, in their turn, with 

 another curve, forming the tail. His shoulders slope back 

 more than those of other quadrupeds, the scapula, or shoul- 

 der-blade, being oblique to the humerus, which, in its turn, 

 is oblique to the radius, or upper part of the fore-leg. So, 

 again, in the hind-quarters, the haunch is set obliquely to the 

 true thigh, the thigh, at the stifle joint, to the upper bone 

 of the hind-leg, which at the hock makes another angle. 

 The fore and hind quarters form so large a portion of the 

 entire length that a horse, though a lengthy animal from the 

 front of the chest to the back of the haunch, is, compara- 

 tively, very short in the actual back or 'saddle-place.' Then 

 his hocks are much bent, and his pastern joints are rather 

 long, and again are set at an angle, succeeded by a slightly 

 different angle in the firm but expanding hoof, thus com- 

 pleting the beautiful mechanism, which preserves the limbs 

 from jar, and ensures elasticity in every part of an animal 



