EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL FORM 



397 



and neck, for muscles that draw the shoulder blade forward, 

 for the powerful muscle that runs along the top of the back 

 and extends the vertebrae, and for a muscle which aids 

 inspiration by bringing the ribs forward." The withers are 

 lower in mares than in horses. Castration does not hinder 

 their development. There are eighteen pairs of ribs, all 

 attached to dorsal vertebrae, but the eight true ribs on each side 

 are individually connected by cartilages to the breast bone, 

 while the ten false ones have only an indirect cartilaginous 



Arias 



Axis .'Ligament of neck 



/ ,-5 Vertebrae oF neck (cervical) 



, Cartilage oF prolongation , Point" of" hip 



Verrebrae of back / .foster, or iliac some 



. //i- 



HipjoinT 



TrochanTer major 

 Poinr oF 

 buttgck 



Incisor* 



Scapula or Shoulder blade 

 Shoulder joinl" 



Cannon hone - - 

 L ona- pastern bone. 



5horr-pas/~et'n bone-. 

 Pedal bone -- 



FIG. 27. SKELETON OF THE DOMESTIC HORSE. 



connection with it. [The floating ribs in other breeds of animals 

 have no cartilaginous attachment, see page 559.] The ribs 

 ought to be long, to give a good depth to the body ra point 

 of importance in all kinds of horses and those posterior to 

 the scapula, chiefly the false ribs, should also be well-arched, 

 to give ample room for the lungs. Horses with long 

 posterior ribs are said to be " well ribbed up " a conforma- 

 tion indicative of staying power. The expression "well 

 ribbed home " implies a short space between the last rib and 

 the point of the hip seen in well-coupled horses. Expansion 



