i62 SOLDIER AND SPORTSMAN 



long side. In fact, long pasterns are detrimental 

 to balance and speed. 



By kind permission of Sir Theodore Cook, 

 (Isaac Bickerstaffe of The Field) this very interest- 

 ing article is reproduced from that newspaper, 

 where it appeared on 25th December 1920. 



When on the subject of conformation, I have 

 endeavoured to prove that for purposes of speed 

 only {i.e. not general utility) a short tibia, and 

 a long femur, giving the appearance of high- 

 placed hocks and knees, which is an attribute 

 of the Galopin line of horses is demonstrated in 

 studying the skeletons of Eclipse and Persimmon. 



Eclipse and Persimmon 



" The appearance of the skeleton of Eclipse 

 beside that of Persimmon in the British Museum 

 (Natural History) in the Cromwell Road sug- 

 gests some interesting facts and a few valuable 

 comparisons. 



" Taking the statistics from the first race up to 

 1906, all the Derby winners, with four exceptions, 

 traced to Eclipse, Herod, or Matchem, and two 

 out of these four traced to the sire and grandsire 

 of Eclipse respectively. Eclipse's descendants also 

 comprised in Donovan and Isinglass, the two 

 horses that had won most money in stakes ; in 

 Stockwell and St Simon, the two most valuable 



