60 THE HORSE. 



loins. The composing vertebrae should be short, so as to 

 centralise with the more resistance the impulsion which 

 the posterior members transmit, by their intermediary- 

 agency, to the vertebral column and the anterior. The 

 loins, although short, unite transverse, horizontal and 

 well-muscled apophyses. This renders them wide, whilst 

 preserving a certain mobility. 



Mal-attached loins are those which do not follow the 

 back in a straight line, but become arched before reaching 

 the sacrum (a fact which has to be recognised when desiring 

 to increase the stature of Arabs). If the crest of the back 

 follows it, and becomes markedly prominent, the loins are 

 double. 



The lumbar vertebrae are six in number ; nevertheless, 

 Oriental horses often only possess five. The loins should 

 insensibly continue the back and rejoin the croup without 

 any vacillation or depression of the line. 



Breast and ribs (8, fig. 31). — The ribs, to the number 

 of eighteen pairs, limit the breast, and laterally constitute 

 the round portion of the body. They commence with 

 the origin of the vertebrae of the withers and back ; the 

 largest arc being situated about the twelfth rib. 



The first nine pairs, called sternals, are situated 

 immediately upon the sternum, the best capacity being 

 the cylindrical. The breast, limited by circles, is found 

 in the most favourable condition of width, consequently 

 the flat rib, of an oval form or even longer, is not generally 

 a sufficient compensation. A narrow-chested horse with 

 crowded limbs will be scant of breath. The actual height 

 of the capacity closing the respiratory organs and the 

 heart, is, vertically, from the sternum to the vertebral 

 column under the withers. Its depth or length is mea- 

 sured horizontally from the anterior portion of the sternum, 

 under the neck to the diaphragm. 



The height of the chest, taken from the withers to the 

 sternum is not, therefore, the absolute index of great 

 pectoral capacity. The apophyses of the dorsal verte brae 

 are there often more than 20 centimeters in height, a 

 length especially advantageous to the shoulder and the 

 muscular forces which make it act. 



I have ascertained, in the collections of several German 

 veterinary schools, that Arabs have the ribs rounder than 



