250 THE AEM. 



muscular shoulders are well suited to the collar. A horse so 

 formed, naturally leans forward, and his legs being far under his 

 body and sloping back are in the right position for a long, 

 leaning pull. As a matter of fact we find that horses so formed 

 do stand constant, heavy, slow pulling remarkably well. But 

 even in the dray horse, where much depends upon safe action, 

 the shoulder must not be too upright. The leaning, clumsy, 

 tumble down horse, however good a slave he may be for certain 

 purposes, is never a horse to coir.mand a high price. 



509. — This thin, flat, long blade bone, covered with powerful 

 muscles, becomes suddenly round and thick at its base, where it 

 is connected at a considerable angle with ihe round, short, strong, 

 lower shoulder bone. This bone slopes down and baok to the top 

 of the arm, and to the end of the elbow. 



600. — The elbow is a projection forward at the top of the 

 fore leg, by a small bone, obliquely attached to the back of the 

 bone of the arm. In the young horse, this small bone is joined 

 on to the arm by grissle, but in the old horse the junction is 

 hardened to bone. It is easy to understand that the more this 

 small, oblique bone projects, forming a deep elbow, the more 

 advantageously the large muscles attached to the shoulder bones 

 will be able to act on the fore leg, and the more securely and 

 effectually the leg can be thrown forward and recovered again. 

 It will be evident too that the perfectly straight direction of the 

 elbow, from front to back, is a point of great importance, as any 

 deviation from the straight line of action there must greatly 

 lessen the effective power, and twist the leg in its movements, 

 causing the action to be unsightly and unsafe. 



THE ARM. 



601. — The lower shoulder bone is socketed into the long 

 upright bone between the shoulder and the knee, which we call 

 the arm. Where great speed is requii-ed, this arm bone should 

 be long in proportion to the shank bone below it. No horse 

 can be safe, strong, and enduring, unless the upper portion of 

 this bone exhibits a full supply of well developed muscles. 

 Whether you want power, speed, safety, or endurance, you cannot 



