888 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE- Part III. 



the fore extremities are wholly connected by muscle, and not as in man, by the intervention of the 

 bony union of the clavicle or collar bone. In the horse, therefore, we find that large muscular masses 

 unite the shoulder blade, by its upper and inner surfaces, to the chest ; while other powerful muscles sus- 

 pend as it were the machine between them. By this contrivance, elasticity is preserved and strength 

 gained ; for had the shoulders possessed a bony connection, when the body is propelled forwards, its 

 weight and force being received by the fore extremities, painful and hurtful shocks would have been 

 experienced at every step. Powerful muscles for the shoulders are also as necessary for progression as for 

 attachment ; but here strength is not alone all that is wanted, just proportion and proper situation are 

 also requisite. 



5598. The centre of action in the shoulders {c)\&\\\ their common centre, 'and the extent of action of 

 any part moving on its centre, is dependent on the length of such part ; the motion the shoulder enjoys 

 is confined to the perpendicular backwards, and to as great an elevation of the muscles as they will admit 

 of forwards. It will be therefore evident that the more oblique is the situation of the shoulder blade, 

 the greater number of degrees it can go through ; it must be as evident also that when the shoulder blade 

 is long and deep, as well as oblique, that this advantage is increased. It is commonly observed, although 

 it is not invariably the case, that when the shoulder is short, it is also upright (Z> b). Obliquity and 

 length in the shoulder favor the safety of the progression also, for as the angles formed between the 

 shoulder, the arm, and fore arm, are consentaneous, and make, when in action, a bony arch ; so the 

 obliquity and length of the shoulders is favorable to a due elevation of the limb, on which, in a great 

 degree, depends the safety of progression. Thus mares are, ceteris paribus, more unsafe than horses, 

 their shoulders being short to correspond with the low mare-like forehand ; and their decreased 

 obliquity usually regulates an increased obliquity in the whole limb downwards, or, as is familiarly ex- 

 pressed, they stand with their legs under them. Unfevorable as is this form of the mare, both for the 

 speed and safety of their action, it was given for purposes advantageous to the animal : for, by such 

 a position in the fore extremities, the hinder are raised higher to afford additional security against 

 the evils of gravitation, and dislodgement of the foal from the pelvis, ^evf rules can be laid down 

 In the exterior conformation that are more important, or of such general application, as that a short 

 and upright shoulder, particularly when united with an inclined direction of the whole limb backwards, 

 is a sure mark of an unsafe goer, and commonly, though not invariably, of a slow one also. It now and then 

 happens indeed, that horses having defective shoulders, prove speedy and good movers, which would appear 

 to contravene these principles ; but it will be found, that wherever horses, having these defects in their fore 

 parts, are yet good, it, in every instance happens that, in them, the hinder parts are particularly and ini- 

 usually strong and well placed, which serves to make up the deficiency. Indeed, it appears probable, that 

 the hind and fore parts do not bear the same relative proportion in all horses alike; in blood horses, the 

 withers are not always high, and although their shoulders are commonly deep and oblique, yet the fore 

 limbs are altogether short in proportion to the hinder, in a great number of the fleetest racers : for, 

 as speed appears to be a principal end in their formation, and as comparative anatomy furnishes us 

 with abundant proof that all animals destined to make considerable leaps, which is, in fact, speed, 

 are low before; the end of their formation is really best answered by this arrangement of parts; it 

 is also more than probable that although speed in the gallop may be found with a defective forehand, 

 that yet, in the slower paces of the canter, trot, and walk, a justly formed shoulder is more immediately 

 requisite. This subject will be still further elucidated when we treat on the mechanical properties of the 

 skeleton. 



5595. Thetvithers (ee) are formed by the long transverse processes of the dorsal vertebrae (//), and as 

 their use is to serve as levers to muscles, so their length and the height of the withers must be of great 

 advantage, and enable such horses to go high above their ground; for the muscles of the back, acting to 

 greater advantage, elevate the fore parts more forcibly. From this we may also learn that the elevation 

 of the fore parts, or the horse's going above his ground, is not altogether dependant on the motion of the 

 shoulders, nor on the height to which the animal may be inclined to lift his legs ; but likewise, on the 

 extent to which the fore half of the machine is altogether elevated by the action of the dorsal and lumbar 

 muscles. When the withers are high, or the forehand well up, as it'is termed, it is favorable to the cele- 

 rity and to the safety of the action ; but as these properties are less wanting in the heavy breeds, we find 

 in them a considerable variation of form : in the cart horse, whose heavy forehand is of great service, 

 as he draws by an effort to preserve himself from the tendency his weight gives him to the centre of 

 gravity ; so the more weighty and bulky he is before, and the nearer he approximates this centre, the more 

 advantageously he will apply his powers. It is not here intended to be hinted that nature gave him this 

 form purposely to enable him to draw : this indeed would be an argument of necessity ; but this form has 

 been judiciously imposed on him by men, by regulation of the sexual intercourse, and by a careful selection 

 of specimens having some of the requisites to propagate from, until at last we have produced the mas- 

 sive, weighty animal whose powers astonish'as well as benefit us. 



5600. The breast or counter {f f) is the part between the point of the arms or shoulders, and which 

 should be moderately wide and extended : when it is otherwise, the horse is seldom durable, or even 

 strong, although he may be speedy ; neither have the lungs sufficient room for expansion, nor the 

 muscles great extent of attachment; frequently too it accompanies a general flatness of ribs, anS want 

 of circular form in the carcase in general ; all which, experience has shewn to be necessary to the per^ 

 fection of the machine. The breast, may however, be too wide ; it may also hang over or project beyond 

 the. perpendicular of the fore limbs, so as to overweigh the machine : this form, however, though 

 unfavorable to the saddle horse, for the reasons just assigned, is much desired in tlie heavy draught 

 horse. 



5601. The back. Where the withers end the back commences {g) ; the length should be moderate only, 

 for a long cylinder cannot be so strong as one of less length ; long-backed horses are easy because the 

 action and the reaction are considerable ; but what is gained in elasticity is lost in strength. When the 

 back is too short, the extremities .are so much approximated that they frequently overreach each other ; 

 the back should be nearly straight, it has naturally an inclination in the line of its gravity ; but this exi 

 ists in very different degrees in different horses. When the incurvation inwards is considerable, such 

 horses are called saddle-backed, and are Usually considered as Weak ; but to keep up the counterpoise, 

 so the crest in such horses is generally good ; they also ride pleasantly^ and commonly carry much 

 apparent carcase ; sometimes indeed too much. W^hen the back is curved upwards, it is called roach^ 

 backed ; when considerably so, it is unfavorable to the liberty of action, as well as to the elasticity of 

 motion; and for the reasons given, with too short a back, a horse is often found to overreach : in these 

 cases, to counteract the curve outward, the head is also carried low usually. A short'backed horse is in 

 considerable request with many persons, who do not consider that when it is too much so, there is seldom 

 great speed ; for the hinder extremities cannot be brought sufficiently under the body to propel the 

 mass forwards. 



5602. r/? loins (/<) may be considered as the part which extends from immediately behind the hinder 

 edge of the saddle when properly placed, extending from thence to the rump. Anatomically it begins 

 at the sacrum {fig. 615 z), whose processes being sometimes defective or interrupted, leave an inden- 

 tation, as though the union between the back and loins was incomplete; and such horses are said to be 

 badly loined : but although it may in some measure deprive the muscles of some slight attachments ; 

 yet the evil is not so considerable as is imagined. The width of the loins is of, considerable import to the 

 strength of the animal, as it affords a greater surface for the attachment of the powerful muscles of thef 

 back and loins; and the muscles themselves should be so prominent, as to seem to swallow the back 



