THE XECK. 55 



bones of the neck are nearly straight, having only 

 the faintest possible curve, or in other words, the 

 neck at rest is at its straightest. When the neck 

 is not at rest, the bones of the neck will be bent 

 according to the attitude of the horse, and, as we 

 have seen, the muscles filling the upper triangle, 

 being inserted into the hindmost bones of the neck, 

 are most concerned in altering its shape. 



Referring to Fig. 7, B we find that the hindmost 

 side of the upper triangle depicted in Fig. 7, A 

 depends for its depth upon the length of the 

 ' spines' of the bones of the vertebral column of the 

 foremost part of the back. This part, horsemen 

 know as the ' withers.' It therefore follows that 

 the higher the withers the greater the power of 

 raising and bending upwards and backwards the 

 bones of the neck, or in other words, the higher the 

 withers the greater the power of holding up the head 

 andnech. So that with high withers, that is with a 

 deep triangle, the large muscles of this region not 

 only act with the least expenditure of power, but 

 the efficiency of space from above downwards 

 enables large muscles to occupy this region without 

 making the neck thick, because great and powerful 

 muscles can be stow^ed away in a space which 

 though narrow is very deep ; whereas for the same 

 bulk, and as we have seen strength, to be stowed 

 away in a less triangle, the space laterally has to be 

 encroached upon. So that given the same weight of 

 head, and strength and length of neck, the higher 



