70 THE HORSE. 



but tlie excessive h^iglit whicli we sometimes see is not of the 

 sligttest avail for this purpose. 



The next and last component parts of the body are the 

 BACK-RIBS, flank, AND BELLY. Here we have chiefly to consider 

 the proper lodgment of the organs of nutrition ; but there is also 

 the junction of the fore and hind quarters to come under review. 

 For both these purposes the back-ribs should be long, or, as such 

 a formation is generally called, " deep," so as not only to give pro- 

 tection to the contents of the belly, but to afford a strong attach- 

 ment to the muscles which connect the chest to the hips. The 

 space, also, between the latter and the last rib should not be large, 

 or there will be an element of weakness ; but if too limited, the 

 action in the gallop will be confined, and the hind legs will not be 

 brought sufficiently forward. About the breadth of the hand is 

 the proper allowance to make for this space in a horse of average 

 size and make, and either more or less than this may be considered 

 a defect. To obtain this formation, the ribs themselves must be 

 set wide apart, and not huddled up together, as you sometimes see, 

 leaving a great space between the last and the hip. When the 

 back-ribs are long, the lower outline of the belly swells consider- 

 ably below the level of the girth-place, and a very elegant 'shape 

 is developed, as well as one generally united with a hardy consti- 

 tution. Sometimes, it is true, the two are not combined, and now 

 and then we meet with a very good feeder and robust animal with 

 shallow back ribs ; but the rule may be considered to be as I have 

 stated it, and the purchaser will do well to attend to it in making 

 his selection, when he knows nothing of the character of the indi- 

 vidual. For fast road-work, where the failure of the legs is gene- 

 rally the limit to the amount of work, a very heavy carcase is an 

 objection, as it increases the weight upon them ; and an overtopped 

 harness-horse — that is, one with a body too big for his legs — is a 

 most worthless brute ; but in the thorough-bred there is seldom 

 this formation, and the tendency is, on the other hand, to be too 

 light in the flank, rather than too deep. A light-carcased or 

 herring-gutted horse when " set" for the race-course or the fast 

 hunting country looks cut in two, and his performances generally 

 >rrespond with his appearance. 



Projecting forward with a beautiful sweep, the neck comes 

 out Df the chest in this kind of horse with a most elegant outline. 

 Of a greater length than in any other, it is also proportionally 

 thin; i?ut both these dimensions may easily be exaggerated, a very 

 long and thin neck being objectionable, and rarely corresponding 

 with good wind. The lines resemble greatly those of the neck of 

 the gamecock ; and when there is a decided angle about three or 

 four inches from the jaw, the horse is said to be " cock-throppled," 

 and it is then generelly supposed that he is wire than usuallj 



