HORSES: THEIR POINTS AND MANAGEMENT 



formed by the spinous j)roccss of se\'eral of the dorsal vertebrae, 

 along with the muscles, ligaments, etc., and corres])onds to 

 the tree of the saddle. 



The Back and Loins. — The back may, for convenience, 

 be said to comprise the area lying between the withers in 

 front, and the loins and crou]:) behind. 



The loins are bounded in front by the back, posteriorly 

 by the croup, and laterally by the flanks. 



The Croup. — Comprises the oblique portion lying between 

 the back part of the loins, angle of the haunch (hip), and set 

 on of the tail, the fleshy portion of the last named being called 

 the " dockr 



The Flanks (right and left) comprise the areas bounded 

 above by the loins, in front by the last rib, behind by the 

 thigh, and below by a portion of the floor of the belly. It is 

 this area (or areas) that becomes specially prominent when 

 the intestines become abnormally distended by gas, arising 

 through fomentative changes therein. 



The Abdomen. — The belly cavity is separated from that 

 of the chest by a muscular partition — the diaphragm or midrif 

 — and it is continued, posteriorly, into the pelvic cavity, i.e., a 

 division mostly included within the pelvic bone, in which 

 parts of the urinary and female generative apparatus is con- 

 tained. \Mthin the cavity of the pelvis, and like that of the 

 abdomen, it is lined by a serous membrane or peritoneum. 

 The stomach, spleen, pancreas, liver, kidneys, supra-renal 

 bodies, large and small intestines, together with nerves, blood 

 vessels, and glands absorbent, are contained within the belly 

 cavity. 



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