OUR SADDLE-HORSES. 49 



inclining well back. If a horse so formed has 

 good hind-leg action he will be very valuable, 

 because this form of shoulders is, I regret to 

 say, now scarcely to be found amongst our 

 saddle-horses, in the stronger portion of which 

 the girths are only kept from slipping away 

 forward by the animal's fore-legs ; making the 

 rider sit almost on the withers rather than on 

 the back of his horse. 



Unless the space which intervenes between 

 the end of the mane and the punnnel of the 

 saddle be thick in a young horse, it becomes 

 too thin, and consequently weak when the 

 animal arrives at its prime. 



The neck of a saddle-horse of the first class 

 is never very fleshy or coarse until the animal 

 becomes old. The only good shape for useful 

 purposes now to be found in our race-horses is 

 that of their hocks. Sickle hocks, as they are 

 called, so frequent in other breeds, will not 

 stand racing, though they frequently remain 

 sound when less speed is required. But this 

 form should be avoided. 



The best height for horses intended for 

 hacks of the first class ranges from 14 h. 3 in. 

 to 15 h. *2 in. A horse 15 h. 3 in. may be a 



E 



