18 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



you have lost all you have gained by the slanting 

 shoulder." * This is true, but the whole point of the 

 matter is that the very setting on of the fore legs is, 

 in itself, a part of a good shoulder, and no shoulder 

 can correctly be called a good, oblique shoulder unless 

 both bones are in their relative and correct positions. 



There is, however, one point on the question of 

 shoulders which is of even more importance than the 

 relative lengths or positions of either bones, namely, 

 that the shoulder, be it upright or oblique, is in no 

 way muscle-bound, but supple and free to move. 



Now it is one thing to know clearly what consti- 

 tutes a good shoulder — in a skeleton, for example — 

 and quite another matter to pick the defects of a 

 shoulder in the living animal; for in the latter the bones 

 are completely covered by muscles and flesh. Perhaps 

 the only reliable way to become a good judge of what 

 constitutes a good shoulder is by constant observation 

 and by riding. In galloping down-hill, in particular, 

 the horse with the oblique shoulder will give you a 

 safer and quite different "feel" than a straight- 

 shouldered animal. 



The chest should be deep in order to give ample 

 room for the breathing organs and heart. A horse can 

 never be too "deep through the heart," for this forma- 

 tion not only increases the breathing capacity of the 

 animal, but also, on a deep-girthed horse, the saddle 

 is less apt to slip than on a shallow-chested animal. 

 On the other hand, although in no way contracted, 

 the chest should not appear broad, for this places the 

 animal's fore legs too far apart, causes a rolling gait, 

 and, under a man's saddle, spreads the rider's legs tod 

 greatly. 



* "Cro6s Country with Horse and Hound," by Mr. F. S. Peer. 



