POINTS. 



419 



A COARSE-BRED HACNCH. 



desires to obtain the one which the dealer is not very anxious should 

 be purchased. 



In illustration of this subject an engraving is inserted, which repre- 

 sents better-made quarters than are commonly beheld on a native or 

 coarsely-bred animal. But the reader can 

 hardly fail to remark that though the devel- 

 opments are not deficient in width, yet the 

 general aspect rather denotes softness than 

 expresses strength or suggests determination. 

 The tail is well set on for this kind of quad- 

 .ruped; still, the point of the rump-bone is 

 not even indicated. The spectator must 

 guess at its precise location, as he cannot, by 

 the unaided vision, detect its exact situation. 

 Bulk is not absent, yet that which should be 

 its attendant is not prominent. The bones 

 of the leg seem long, but the hocks are not remarkable for size or con- 

 spicuous for form. The limbs are not moved with that independence of 

 action which gives to the step of the horse its air of resolution, but they 

 are advanced as though one was timid of proceeding too far without the 

 other. 



Yet, the inquirer may journey long and travel far before he will meet 

 the equal of the quarters here depicted. The generality of these parts, 

 on the animals of the coarser breed, are much narrower; the tail is 

 seldom encountered springing from a position so near to the level of 

 the spine ; while, short as the extent of the posterior muscles niay 

 appear in the previous illustration, these are frequently to be seen of 

 more circumscribed dimensions. 



In contrast to the foregoing, the accom- 

 panying engraving depicts the quarters of a 

 blood horse. In this illustration, symmetry 

 and beauty are equally preserved ; but, with 

 these qualities, also are blended other attri- 

 butes, which ennoble and elevate the object. 

 Strength, power, and determination are im- 

 pressed upon the image. Every muscle goes 

 direct to the part on which it operates. The 

 posterior line, on being traced from the dock 

 to the leg, does not seem to hesitate between 

 the bone of the member and the stifle-joint. 



The leg itself is thicker, but its greater substance depends upon the 

 presence of muscle. The hock is cleaner, and uses of the part are better 



A THOROUGH-BRED HAUNOH. 



