146 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



it is at this point that race horses most frequently 



give out. 



A good saddle horse, like a good horse for any 



other purpose, should be well "ribbed up." A con- 

 siderable space between the last rib and the hip 

 bone almost invariably indicates a want of toughness. 

 Animals thus built usually require more grain, and 

 are capable of less work, than " close-ribbed " horses. 

 A thin waist also commonly shows a want of strength^ 

 but, as I have remarked with reference to harness 

 horses, this is by no means an unfailing sign. The 

 famous steeple-chaser, Emblem, a beautiful bay mare 

 with wonderful shoulders, had no " middle piece," 

 and yet she was a noted stayer. Hempstead, an 

 American gelding remarkable as a jumper, was an- 

 other instance of a wasp-waisted but strong horse. 

 It may be doubted, however, if in these and in other 

 like cases the want of strength is not supplied by 

 extraordinary courage and resolution. A coarse-bred 

 horse that was also thin-waisted would probably 

 show, as well as feel, a lack of endurance. 



A horse with low withers is, generally speaking, 

 unfit for the saddle, especially if he stands higher 

 behind than in front, — a conformation apt to be 

 found both in fast runners and in fast trotters. 

 When such horses have good legs and feet, they can 

 carry a light man without danger of becoming knee- 

 sprung, but weight-carrying is not their forte, and 

 I am inclined to think that they will never trot so 

 fast under saddle as they will in harness ; whereas, 

 as a rule, a trotter is estimated to be about three 

 seconds (per mile) faster under saddle than in har- 

 ness. During one whole winter I rode a horse of 



