28 THE HORSE 



with that kind of leg, you get too much concussion, and, 

 as a frequent consequence, unsound hocks. 



For the same reason short, straight pasterns, whether 

 before or behind, are apt to cause unsoundness in the 

 feet, and especially side-bones. In fact draft horses 

 in recent years have been so subject to side-bones, 

 attributed to short, straight pasterns, that breeders are 

 now going to the opposite extreme, and breeding for 

 a long, oblique, and somewhat weak pastern. 



No horse can be beautiful without a fairly long 

 neck. A short neck almost always means poor wind, 

 and usually, also, a poor mouth. Even a draft horse 

 should not be noticeably short in the neck. With a 

 neck of good length, he will not only have better wind, 

 but will be better balanced. 



As to the shoulder, it can hardly be too sloping for 

 a saddle horse, roadster, or carriage horse; and a 

 sloping shoulder is valuable in a draft horse, because 

 it is better adapted for pulling, and, moreover, it 

 affords a better resting place for the collar than a 

 straight shoulder. It may, indeed, be too sloping for 

 the collar, but this is a rare defect in draft horses. A 

 shoulder too straight Is far more common among them. 



A short back is, of course, stronger than a long back. 

 This is true of all animals. A good formation, not 

 unusual among trotters, is the combination of a short 

 back with a long barrel. This is possible only with a 

 sloping shoulder. Horses so made are described as 

 being " short on top and long underneath." 



A " slack-ribbed" horse, by which is meant one with 

 too much space between the last rib and the hip, is 



