THE FORM OF THE NECK. I55 



that. In the carriage-horse, a neck that is not half concealed by the collar 

 is inJispensable, so lar as appearance goes ; and it is only the horse with a 

 neck of tolerable length, that will bear to be reined up, so as to give this 

 part tliat arched and beautiful appearance which fashion demands. It 

 is no detriment to the riding-liorse, and there are few horses of extraordi- 

 nary speed which have not the neck rather long. Tiie race-horse at the 

 top of his speed not only extends it as far as he can, that the air-passages 

 may be as straight as he can make them, and that he may therefore be 

 able to breathe more freely, but the weight of the head and neck, and the 

 effect increasing with their distance from the trunk, add materially to the 

 rapidity of the animal's motion, by throwing his weight considerably for- 

 ward. It has been said, that a horse with a long neck will bear heavy on 

 the hand. We do not believe that either the length of the neck, or even 

 the bulk of the head, has any influence in causing this. They are both 

 counterbalanced by the power of the ligament of the neck. The setting 

 Oil of the head is most of all connected with heavy bearing on the hand, 

 and a short-necked horse will bear heavily, because, from the thickness of 

 the lower part of the neck, consequent on its shortness, the head cannot be 

 rightly placed. The head and neck, however, should be proportioned to 

 each other. .\ short head on a long neck, or a long head on a short neck, 

 would equally offend the eye. 



Connected with this sp/enius muscle, and partly produced by it, we 

 would direct the attention of the i*eader to the thickness and muscularity 

 of the neck in this cut, as it springs from the shoulders ; the height at which 

 it comes out from them, forming nearly a line with the withers; and th? 

 manner in which it tapers as it approaches the head, and this muscla 

 diminishing in size. The neck of a well formed hoise, however tine at the 

 top, should be muscular at the bottom, or the horse to which it belongs will 

 generally be weak and worthless. Necks devoid of this muscularity are 

 called loose necks by horsemen, and are always considered a very serious 

 objection to the animal. If the neck be thin and lean at the upper part, and 

 be otherwise well-shaped, the horse will usually carry himself well, and the 

 head will be properly curved for beauty of appearance and ease of riding. 

 When an instance to the contrary occurs, it is generally to be traced to 

 very improper management, or to the space between the jaws being un- 

 naturally small. 



The splenius muscle, although the main agent in raising the head and 

 neck, maybe too large, or covered with too much cellular substance or fat, 

 and give an appearance of heaviness or even clumsiness to the neck. This 

 peculiarity of form constitutes the distinction between the perfect horse and 

 the mare, and also the gelding, unless castrated at a very late period. 

 Horses with thick, heavy crests are usually slow and sluggish. 



This tendon, c, belongs also to another muscle, which makes up the 

 principal bulk of the lower part of the neck, and is called the complexus 

 major, or larger complicated muscle. It arises partly as low as the trans- 

 verse processes of the four or five first bones of the back, and from the five 

 lower bones of the neck ; and the fibres from these various sources uniting 

 together, form a very large and powerful muscle, the largest and strongest 

 in the neck. As it approaches the head, it lessens in bulk, and terminates 

 partly with the splenius in this tendon, but is principally inserted into the 

 back part of the occipital bone, by the side of the ligament of the neck. 

 \n our cut, p. 154, almost its whole course can be distinctly traced. Its 

 office is to raise the neck and elevate the head ; and being inserted 

 mto such a part of the occiput, it will more particularly protrude the nose, 



