1 84 COMPAJiATIVE SHAPE OF HORSES. 



well fed and well cared for. Extremely good polo 

 ponies, like Dynamite (Fig. 284), and racing ponies, like 

 Predominant (Fig. 278), are more or less flukes in 

 breeding. At the same time, we must not ignore the 

 following three facts in this connection : — (i) That the 

 respective offspring of certain sires and certain mares 

 are abnormally small ; (2) first foals are often smaller 

 than subsequent ones ; and (3) the produce of very old 

 sires are frequently lacking in height. 



Thickness of Limb. — Continuing the argument 

 begun in Chapter I., we find that the muscles of the limbs 

 of gallopers are comparatively long and slender. Hence, 

 the bones, being dependent on the muscles for their shape, 

 must partake of the same character. Also, it is advan- 

 tageous that they should be slight ; because, were the 

 bones of the legs of the galloper massive, the friction in 

 the working of their joints would be proportionately in- 

 creased, with consequent loss of speed, which would be of 

 little importance in a heavy draught animal, in which the 

 opposite kind of conformation should be sought for. 



Length of Neck. — As the muscles which di'aw the 

 fore leg forward (namely, those of the neck) are muscles 

 of locomotion, they should be proportionate in length 

 to those of the fore limb. Hence, if a horse has long 

 fore legs, like the race-horse, he ought to have a long 

 neck ; and vice versa. 



Length of Head. — As the respective functions of the 

 head and body are not affected by the nature of the woi'k 

 (as regards speed and strength) ; the length of the head, 

 as a rule, is proportionate to that of the body (trunk) ; but 

 it bears no fixed ratio to the length of the limbs, which 

 varies according to the kind of work to which the par- 

 ticular horse is best suited. Thus, we find that although 

 the length of the head has nearly the same proportion 

 (about I to 2h) to the length of the body in both the racer 



