THE AMERICAN BLOOD-HORSE. 49 



^e muscular, and the hips so ^Yicle as to allow of a good de- 

 velopment of the muscular department. The withers may rise 

 gently, but not too high, with that thin, razor-like elevation 

 which many people call a good shoulder, but which really has 

 nothing to do with that part, and is only an annoyance to the 

 saddler, in preventing its being pinched by the saddle. The chest 

 itself should be vvell developed, but not too wide and deep ; no 

 horse can go a good distance without a fair "bellows-room;" 

 but, supposing the beast to be sound and of good quality, the 

 amount of lungs will suffice which may be contained in a 

 medium-sized chest, and all above that is wasted, and is extra 

 weight. Many of our best-winded horses have had medium- 

 sized chests, and some of the very worst have been furnished 

 with room enough for a blacksmith's bellows to play in. If 

 the heart only does its duty well, the lungs can always furnish 

 sufTicient air ; and we know that when frequently renewed, and 

 with sulncient power, the blood is aerated as fast as it is pro- 

 pelled, and the chief difficulty lies in this power of propulsion^ 

 which resides in the heart alone. If the chest be too wide, it 

 materially affects the action of the fore-legs, and, therefore, in 

 every point of view, theoretically and practically, there is a 

 happy medium between the too great contraction in this de- 

 partment, and the heavy, wide, lumbering chests, sometimes 

 seen even in the tliorough-bred race-horse, especially when 

 reared upon rich succulent herbage, more fitted for the bullock 

 than for the Eastern horse. In the formation of the hips, the 

 essential point is length and breadth of bone for muscular at- 

 tachment, and it matters little whether the croup droops a lit- 

 tle, or is pretty straight and level, so that there is a good 



length from the hips to the haunch-bone the line between which 

 4 



