I go COMPARATIVE SHAPE OF HORSES. 



tibia (from stifle to hock), long ; cannon-bone, short ; 

 pastern, long. As the muscles which give length to the 

 tibia are far more concerned in the extension of the hind 

 limb of the jumper and galloper than in the cart-horse ; 

 we should look for greater length from stifle to hock, in 

 the first two, than in the last-named. We might also 

 expect in them a shorter thigh and a shorter cannon- 

 bone. This opinion is confirmed by the practical ex- 

 perience of Mr. Tom Jennings, the well-known Newmarket 

 trainer, who once remarked to me that he always 

 regarded as a good point in a race-horse, the fact of 

 its stifle being set high up in its flank — i.e., its having 

 a short thigh bone, and consequently being long from 

 its stifle to its hock. 



In the remainder of the body of the race-horse we 

 might, possibly, also find a series of inverse proportions 

 as follows : — Head, short ; neck, long ; back and loins, 

 short ; croup, long ; bones of the tail, short. 



Although I am well aware that the proportions of the 

 skeleton do not rigidly follow any strict mathematical 

 rule ; still I am strongly of opinion, from close study of 

 the horse, that in the large majority of cases the fore- 

 going deductions will be found to be correct. 



Differences of Conformation bet^ween the Two 

 Sexes. — As a rule, the mare, as compared to the horse, 

 has a lighter neck, a broader pelvis, is higher behind and 

 slacker in the loins than he is. The fact of the spines 

 of her withers being lower than those of the horse (p. 241), 

 is no doubt the cause of her being relatively higher over the 

 croup than he is. 



