210 HORSE AND MAN. 



brought forward where objections are made to its 

 use. One is, that it keeps the horse on its feet and 

 saves it from falling and breaking its knees ; and the 

 second is, that it prevents the horse from running 

 away. We will take these three 'reasons' separately, 

 but will first describe some more of the mechanism 

 of the neck and backbone. 



As the reader may remember, all the parts of an 

 animal are mutually dependent on each other, and 

 any interference with one of them will exercise an 

 injurious influence on all the others. 



It has already been mentioned that elasticity is 

 one of the leading characteristics on which the 

 structure of the horse is framed. How wonderfully 

 elastic is the hoof in its natural state, and how the 

 horse is injured by destroying that elasticity, has 

 been already shown. Now it is evident that an 

 elastic hoof would be useless if the body were rigid, 

 and therefore, as might be inferred from the hoof, the 

 neck and backbone combine elasticity and strength 

 in a most wonderful manner. 



This is not intended to be an anatomical work, 

 and therefore I only give those details which bear 

 immediately on the subject. 



If the reader will refer to the illustration which 

 represents the seven vertebras of the neck, he will 

 see that they are furnished with various projections. 



