158 



ANIMAL MANAGEMENT. 



forelegs 

 to body. 



Move- 

 ments of 

 the blade 

 bone. 



The 

 muscle 

 pad of 

 the back. 



Use of 

 muscles. 



muscle. The trunk is therefore skmg between the forelegs, and 

 in this respect differs considerably from the hind legs, which are 

 secured to the body by muscles, and a large cup and ball joint. 

 The muscles which fix the forelegs to the body are plastered over the 

 sides of the ribs to which they are firmly attached ; the upper bone of the 

 foreleg, the so-called blade bone, is shaped something like a fan in order 

 to lie flat on the'surface of the ribs. 



When the foreleg moves the blade bone moves ; its range of motion 

 being greater near the shoulder joint than above ; the movement of the 

 blade bone is forwards and backwards, but if figs. 29, 30, and 31 be looked at, 

 it will be easy to observe that while the handle of the fan is going forward, 

 the fan itself is travelling backwards and vice versa^ the movement is on 

 the same principle as a see-saw. 



Attention must be paid to this fact, as it will be apparent from an 

 inspection of figs. 29-31 that if the blade bone is travelhng to and fro, 

 nothing which is placed on the back in the form of a saddle should ever 

 press upon it or interfere with its movements, otherwise the length 

 and safety of the horse's stride will at once be affected. So vital is this 

 question that we shall refer to it in greater detail in dealing with the use 

 and function of the different parts of the back. 



On referring to figs. 27, 28, it will be obvious that the triangular space 

 Avhich lies between the processes of tlie vertebrie, and the ribs must in 

 the living animal be filled up with flesh or, as we shall prefer to call it, 

 muscle. A large slab of muscle runs the whole length of the back ; 

 beginning at the loins it fills up the triangular space formed by these 

 vertebrse, and continuing its way along the back fills up the space 

 between the vertebrae and ribs. It is on this muscle that the saddle rests ; 

 from a saddle fitting point of view it is the most important muscle of the 

 body. Fig. 32 shows the superficial muscles of the back after the skin 

 has been removed. 



The use of muscles is to bring about movement, and those which 

 lie along the back have for their special function the lifting of the fore 

 part of the body, as for example in jumping. This, of course, is an 

 exaggerated example of the use of the muscles of the back and loins, 

 but conveys the correct idea of the fore part of the body being lifted ; 

 this lifting, though only to a slight extent as compared with the above, is 

 constantly occurring during progression, and maintains the proper 

 equilibrium of the body. 



If the skin be dissected off the back (fig. 32) the muscles do not at once 

 come into view ; beneath the skin is a thin, tough, yellow elastic layer of 

 material which spreads like a sheet over the loins and back and envelops the 



