BREEDS OF HORSES 95 



flesh. The lower jaw bones should be smooth and even and the skin 

 soft and free from much long hair. 



Neck. A well arched, evenly muscled neck in proportion to 

 size of body and large windpipe and smooth insertion into the shoul- 

 der is desirable. Perfect, 2 points. The neck should be well arched, 

 not curved downward (ewe neck) or broken in crest. It should fit 

 neatly into the head and be free from thickness, coarseness and en- 

 largements at the throatlatch. The neck should merge evenly and 

 smoothly into the withers and shoulders and be free from sores at the 

 seat of the collar. The mane should be thick, lie properly and of 

 good quality. Largeness of the windpipe indicates good breathing 

 powers. The jugular vein should show no scars of bleeding and the 

 glands about the throat should be clean and of normal size. 



Shoulder. The shoulder of a draft horse should be moderately 

 sloping, smooth and extending well back. Perfect, 3 points. A ma- 

 jority of poorly formed draft horses have shoulders which are too 

 steep. Occasionally the shoulders are too sloping. Either extreme 

 in a draft horse is objectionable. Trouble with collars comes from 

 these causes when the horse is doing heavy pulling. The correctly 

 laid shoulder should form a smooth comfortable bed for the collar. 

 Straight or upright shoulders detract from easy, free action of the 

 forelegs and generally are found associated with upright pasterns. 

 The shoulders should be smoothly and deeply covered with muscles 

 and be free from coarseness, roughness, sores and tumors. The 

 withers should be well covered and moderately high. 



Arm. The arm of the horse extends from the point of the 

 shoulder to the elbow and should be short, heavily muscled and well 

 thrown back. Perfect, 1 point. This part is formed of the arm bone 

 (humerus) and must be so laid as to bring the leg in proper posi- 

 tion to support the weight of the forequarters. The elbows should 

 be prominent, clean, and not held too far out or too close in to the 

 body. Score off for straight, poorly placed or inadequately muscled 

 arms. Forearm. The forearm, extending from the elbow to the 

 knee, should be long, flat, wide, heavily muscled and free from 

 coarseness. Perfect, 2 points. This portion of the body of the draft 

 horse, together with the lower thigh (gaskin) of the hind leg, can- 

 not be fattened, but is composed chiefly of lean muscle and bone. 

 The muscles should be prominent in front and above and the entire 

 part clean and free from puffiness or coarseness. For weakness, 

 lack of length, or deficiency in muscle, cut sharply. 



Knees. The knees should be straight, wide, deep, strongly 

 formed and smooth. Perfect, 2 points. So long as these and other 

 joints are free from puffs, bony growths and meatiness, they cannot 

 well be too large or too strongly developed. Knees should be straight 

 and so set as to perfectly carry the weight of the body. Sprung 

 knees, or buck knees, bent in the forward direction are as objection- 

 able as those of the reverse type which are known as calf knees. 

 Examine the knees for blemishes and the canons for splints close 

 up to the knees. Splints will be likely to cause lameness. -Blemishes 



