582 THE IMPROVED ART OF FARRIERY. 



absolutely requisite, must, of necessity, be sacrificed ; 

 for nature, to keep up a true balance between her 

 creatures, never gives to any individual the united ad- 

 vantages of all. In the race -horse, the sacrifices at 

 the shrine of velocity are safety and ease, as regards 

 progression, and strength as regards the bearing of 

 burdens or the drawing of loads. In many other of 

 the uses of the horse we require that his extremities 

 shall command a principal share of attention, by their 

 own height, and by the elevation of the withers and 

 crest they accompany. In the racer, on the contrary, 

 as in other quadrupeds remarked for speed, we are 

 more attentive to the hinder extremities ; convinced, 

 as we are by analogy and experience, that they must 

 be long, to maintain a preponderating influence over 

 the whole remaining portions of the machine, which 

 they are the principal agents in displacing and pro- 

 pelling forward. In the racer, we do not endeavour 

 to produce any other than a circular form of carcass, 

 for none is so good for all horses ; but we do endeavour 

 to lessen its diameter generally. By every means in 

 our power we therefore draw up the belly, as it is 

 called, that we may not only lighten the animal 

 thereby, but also that we may obtain more room for 

 the operation of the true thigh of the horse, wdiich 

 would be otherwise obstructed by the pressure of heavy 

 viscera on a full belly. But in the degree that we take 

 liberties with the belly towards the loins by drawing it 

 up, we must enlarge the capacity of the trunk for- 

 wards. We therefore not only prefer a deep chest, 

 but one also of large diameter. ' The capacity of the 

 chest depends on its form more than on the extent of 

 its circumference ; for where the girth in equal in two 

 animals, one may have much larger lungs than the 

 other. A deep chest, therefore, is not capacious, un- 



