194 THE PERFECT HORSE. 



do not suffer from lack of treatment ; but the latter do. 

 It is not leg-power so much as back-power a horse 

 needs in order to pull weight and project himself rapid- 

 ly through the air. The muscles that are located over 

 the loins, and run forward like great pulleys along 

 either side of the spinal column, as you can see if you 

 will watch a horse in action, are the ones relied on by 

 nature to do much of the work required. Hence a 

 long-backed horse must be exceedingly strong in the 

 muscular formation at these points, or he is sure to give 

 out when the tug comes. How to strengthen the mus- 

 cles of the back and loins is, therefore, a question worthy 

 of the breeder's and trainer's closest attention. In the 

 human system this is done by lifting weights, and climb- 

 ing hills, and carrying burdens. Every one knows what 

 enormous burdens the porters of the East will walk off 

 under with ease, — burdens which an American could 

 barely lift, much less shoulder. Well, how do they get 

 this power ? The answer is found in their habit of life 

 and labor. From boyhood they are porters, weight- 

 carriers. Every day adds a pound to their weight- 

 carrying capacity ; and thus nature is developed to an 

 extent which seems marvellous to us, unused to such 

 exercise and labor. Well, muscles and bones are the 

 same everywhere, — the same in the horse as in the man ; 

 and if man, by certain practice, and exercise at Aveight- 

 carrying, can develop the muscles of his back and loins 

 so that his natural capacity can be more than doubled, 

 why can we not develop the back and loin power of 



