402 THE HORSE 



point of the hip ; the belly \ or abdomen, the under part of the 

 body not protected by bones ; and the brisket, the under 

 side of the chest. The/0/W of the hip is the anterior point 

 of the pelvis, and the point of the buttock the posterior part of 

 the pelvis. The thigh is the greater area of the hind quarter 

 in front of the buttock, and between the croup and the gaskin, 

 or second thigh. The hamstring or tendon Achillis forms the 

 posterior boundary of the gaskin or true leg, and unites the 

 point of the hock with the lower extremity of the thigh. 

 The dock is the solid centre of the tail. A long dock 

 indicates underbreeding from the blood standpoint. The 

 height of a horse is the distance from the crest of the withers 

 to the ground when he stands squarely on all four legs. The 

 length of the body is measured from the point of the shoulder 

 to a line dropping vertically from the point of the buttock ; 

 and the depth, from the lowest point of the back corre- 

 sponding with the eighth and ninth ribs, which are the longest. 

 " The proportion between the depth of the body at this point 

 and the length of the body, is about the same in all classes of 

 horses, namely, I to 2\ (nearly)." Great depth from the 

 withers to the brisket or under surface of the chest is not a 

 desideratum in a race-horse, as it adds to the weight without 

 providing room for chest expansion, like roundness of rib 

 and depth of body behind the girth. The best race-horses 

 are often 3 or 4 inches higher at the withers than they are 

 long in the body, and the Shire horse as much as 9 inches 

 longer. " The length of the neck indicates the length of the 

 muscle which draws the fore limbs forward," consequently 

 the more we want speed and clever jumping, the longer the 

 neck should be, its thickness being limited by the amount of 

 work the muscles have to do. A short body is desirable in a 

 racer, a chaser, or a hunter, as it is more easily controlled by the 

 loin muscles, or rearing muscles, placed immediately under and 

 behind the cantle of the saddle. They are not propelling 

 muscles, as is generally supposed, but " consist principally of 

 those muscles that straighten the hock, draw back the thigh, 

 and extend the vertebrae of the loins." It is for the same 

 reason that the head, neck, and shoulders of those classes of 

 horses should be light, although the neck should be long in 

 proportion to the limbs. '' The combined working of oblique 

 shoulders, well-sloped pasterns, and strong rearing muscles, 



