SADDLES AND SORE BACKS. 153 



influence of weight, it moves from side to side when an animal turns to 

 the right or left, and especially in the "bending" lessons of the riding 

 school. 



Knit closely together as are the eighteen links comprising the back, 

 yet it may be readily appreciated,' from the above fact, that this movement 

 on each other, slight as it is, is of supreme importance. 



When we come to speak of the weight which horses are capable of 

 carrying, the necessity for spinal movement must not be lost sight of, as 

 influencing the question. 



The spine is distinctly arched, it rises from the neck bones, and falls 

 again towards the hind quarters. The object of this arched arrange- 

 ment is to secure strength, and is infinitely more marked in the 

 spinal column of man than in that of the horse. Man from his con- 

 struction is essentially devised for carrying weight, for in this respect 

 a vertical spine is far stronger than one which is horizontal, the arch-like 

 construction is also more marked, while finally some of the individual 

 links in a man's spine are actually larger than those of the horse. 



The back and loins are frequently mixed up in the mind of the Back and 

 ordinary person, but it is essential for our purpose that they should be loins, 

 sharply differentiated. The back bones extend from the last bone of the 

 neck to the last rib ; the loins lie between the last rib and the quarters. 

 It is true that a great deal of the backbone is out of sight, being covered 

 by the blade bones ; the portion of back which is visible reaches from the 

 play of the blade bone to the last rib, and this is the part which is of so 

 much interest in saddle fitting. 



At this point it is desirable to compare what has been stated with 

 fig. 25, which shows the skeleton of the trunk, the arching of the 

 spine from the root of the neck to the hind quarters, and the amount of 

 the back which is hidden by the blade bone. 



A reference to this figure shows that throughout the whole length of Bony 

 the spine may be seen a bony process which grows from the upper part processes 

 of each link in the chain. The processes in front are very long, and their ^^^^^ 

 summit forms the withers ; those behind are short and broad ; the front 

 processes look backwards, those behind look forwards. 



The upper part of the bony processes form the ridge of the backbone. The ridge 

 They do not represent the spine proper (the links of which are more 9^ ^^9^ 

 deeply seated), but they represent the only part of the spine which can be backbone, 

 examined and felt, and they are the seat of all the bone trouble which may 

 be found in a bad sore back. 



The subject will be alluded to again, but the fact cannot be learned 

 too early, that these bony processes are not intended to bear weight ; 



