LENGTH 95 



said to be Jtigli or loiv in front, according to the corresponding height at 

 the croup. There results evidently from this an abnormal distribution 

 of the weight of the l)ody upon the four extremities; this at least is the 

 result of our measurements and our weighings. 



" A lowering of some centimetres at the withers usually causes a sur- 

 charge of the anterior members, and therefore modifies the conditions of 

 the equilibrium and the velocity of the gait. These drawbacks increase in 

 proportion to the burden carried on the back, which is often added to the 

 subject's own bulk. Lastly, the region of the withers is more exposed, on 

 account of its prominence, to contusion and wounds caused by the harness. 



" Inverse effects accompany the diminution of the height over the croup. 

 The hind-quarters, surcharged in their turn, are wanting in action and are 

 obliged to use greater efforts; the hocks are soon ruined. 



" But these different disadvantages, with their grievous consec[uences, 

 manifest themselves only when the inequality in the height of the two 

 parts is very marked. When it is slight, it is but little perceived in prac- 

 tice. Besides, it has not the same imiDortance in all services. The cavalry- 

 horse, the pack-horse, and the dray-horse, always heavily loaded, will show 

 the effects of being lotv in front much sooner than the race-horse, the 

 coacher, the trotter, or the light draught-horse. These latter, on the con- 

 trary, in which speed is the main quality, suffer much more from a defect in 

 the hind-quarters; an excess of height of the croup over that of the withers 

 is a favourable disposition in them, while an equality of the height in front 

 and behind is the best conformation in the others. Many horses of good 

 breeding and of great speed have the croup considerably higher than the 

 withers; this conformation is even very much aj^preciated by horsemen, 

 especially in hunters and steeple-chasers. It should not be forgotten, how- 

 ever, that the overloading of the anterior members is compensated by the 

 relative lightness of the fore-quarters and the power and great length of 

 the hind - quarters. Here, as with the hare, according to M. Richards' 

 comparison, the posterior limbs are carried for under the trunk, their foot- 

 prints are much beyond those of the anterior, the hind-quarters are strongly 

 built, the crouji and loins are vigorous and well supported, the spines of the 

 dorsal vertebrae are long, and the shoulder very oblique. There is then 

 truly a compensation." (Goubaux and Barrier.) 



LENGTH 



The length of the body is the distance from the point of the shoulder in 

 front to a line falling from the point of the buttock behind. Although 

 varying in different animals, it will Ije found, as first pointed out by 



