24 CONFORMATION OF 



chest ; by which admirable contrivance perfect elasticity is 

 preserved. The uneasy seat we experience when riding on 

 or near the croup of the horse, where the hinder limbs are 

 connected with the body by a ligamentous and bony articu- 

 lation, will illustrate the difference between the elasticity 

 of the one connexion and the other. When the body is 

 propelled forward, its tendency to the centre of gravity is 

 counteracted by the fore extremities, which being the true 

 props or supports of the trunk then receive the mass : had 

 the shoulders, therefore, been articulated like the thighs, 

 the machine at every motion would have experienced a 

 powerful and hurtful shock, if not an absolute dislocation ; 

 but, formed as they are, the strong muscles of these parts 

 receive and sustain what the hind quarters have thrown 

 upon them. This connexion, it may likewise be observed, 

 is not rendered strong by the power of these muscular masses 

 alone, but also by the geometrical situation of the scapulae 

 or shoulder-blades themselves, which being approximated 

 above, form a kind of partial arch, receiving the trunk 

 within the entrance of its arms : consequently the greater 

 the force applied, either by gravitation or impulsion, the 

 nearer will these segmental portions be approximated, and 

 the more will their capability of supporting the weight 

 thrown on them be increased. 



The motion the shoulder enjoys is confined by the nature 

 of its articulation to the perpendicular backwards, or to a 

 kind of swinging action, to as great an elevation as the 

 muscles will admit of forw^ards ; and these extensions being 

 commonly uniform, it will be at once evident that the more 

 oblique, long, or deep the shoulder is, the greater number 

 of degrees it will be able to run through. It is therefore 

 easy to comprehend why obliquity, breadth, and length of 

 shoulders are favourable to the safety of action by elevating 

 the limb, to the elasticity of action by increasing the spring, 

 and to the celerity of action by enlarging the angle. 



Mares have very commonly low foreheads, both as regards 

 the height of their withers and the extent and obliquity of 

 their shoulders : to counteract this, and to regulate the 

 angles, an increased obliquity is very commonly observed in 

 the whole limb downwards ; or, as it is familiarly expressed, 

 they stand with their legs well under them, which is a merit 



