48 THE PERFECT HOKSE. 



peculiar formation and characteristics which should dis- 

 tinguish them ; and I flatter myself that the reader who 

 has followed me carefully is pretty well informed touch- 

 ing these several parts of the organization. But several 

 others still remain to be examined ; which we will now 

 proceed to inspect. The next in order, if not in im- 

 portance, is the 



BACK. 



The first thing to observe in judging of a horse, so far 

 as his back is concerned, is the length of it. A long 

 back is a weak back, the world over, and in every in- 

 stance. By superior excellence of structure in other 

 respects, the weakness of the back may be, in some 

 measure, made up ; but the horse can never be the horse 

 he would have been had his back been a shorter one. 

 I do not care how short a horse's back is ; for it is a sure^ 

 evidence to me that he can carry or drag a heavy 

 weight a great distance, and not tire : neither, if he be 

 speedy, will two or three seasons of turf experience 

 break him down, as is the case with so many of our 

 speedy, long-backed horses. Old Morrill and Flora 

 Temple are instances in the past ; and the famous grand- 

 son of Old Morrill, Fearnaught, and Taggart's Abdallah, 

 are good illustrations among horses now living. This 

 conformation of the back is, in my opinion, a grave 

 objection against Young Morrill and Rysdyk's Hamble- 

 tonian. I yield to both the meed of great excellence. 

 I would speak as warmly in their eulogy as any man 

 with reason could. But, in spite of all their excellences, 



