POINTS. 



405 



belly." Animals of this make always seem immatured, as though they 

 had been brought into the world before the proper period, or had been 

 forced to perform hard labor at too early an age : their legs are long ; 

 their withers are low ; their muscles are mean ; their chests are narrow, 

 and their countenances are distorted by a querulous expression. These 

 unhappy creatures possess but little strength for work ; if made to travel 

 fast, they are speedily blown. In the stable, they are greedy; when 

 out of it, they are vicious. Many of their faults are to be attributed to 

 disease, the digestive functions being invariably disordered. They are 

 worthless, or are "all too feeble" for harness; while the enlarged belly, 

 when favored by the motion of the limbs, renders retention of a saddle 

 an utter impossibility. 



The legs of a horse, — these can hardly prove too short ; for brevity 

 of limb is always an accompaniment to depth of chest and proportionably 

 powerful quarters. The long leg always attests to the light carcass: 

 hence the motor agency of the limbs is deficient, while the cavities of 

 respiration and of nutrition are necessarily diminished. A narrow 

 thorax almost enforces low withers and an upright shoulder. The bone 

 of the arm, or the humerus, is pushed into an undue slant by the for- 

 ward position of the blade-bone, or of the scapula. This compels the 

 front leg to stand too far under tlie body. Such an arrangement favors 

 neither beauty, speed, nor safety; in fact, it is one of the worst forms 

 which the components of the frame are capable of assuming. 



The action of the shoulder-blade, during progression, is upward and 

 backward, or it is drawn toward the highest processes of the withers. 

 Low withers are, of course, opposed to ex- 

 tended motion in such a line. The lessened 

 action of the bone necessarily limits the move- 

 ment of the structures which depend from it, 

 or the action of the humerus is governed by 

 that of the shoulder-blade. The trivial motion 

 permitted by low withers, therefore, limits the 

 advance of the forearm, the parts being, as it 

 were, tied together. The natural carriage of 

 such a malformation is with the head and neck 

 protruded, so as to favor progression by strain 

 upon the cervical muscles. At the same time the body inclines forward, 

 which throws the limbs backward, or out of their proper situations ; and 

 rhis circumstance accounts for animals of this particular make so fre- 

 quently encountering "accidents." 



The gait characteristic of an upright shoulder is very peculiar. A bad 

 forehand is the most common defect witnessed in London thoroughfares. 



A STRAIGHT SHOULDER, SHOWING 

 THE POSITION OP THE BONES. 



