CONFORMATION AND ACTION 19 



One usually hears the cry that a horse should be 

 "short in the back" and that a long back denotes 

 weakness, while the reverse spells strength. In theory 

 this may be all very well, but it is rather overdone in 

 practice. Excepting in cases where the animal is 

 expected to carry great weight, a certain amount of 

 length in a horse's back is essential to speed and most 

 necessary to comfort, for a horse with an excessively 

 short back is apt to have a choppy way of going. The 

 horse in illustration facing page 2 has a good back. 



Wliether a back be long or short, it should, in all 

 cases, be well-muscled up and be straight and flat. 

 A hollow or "sway" back is most uncomfortable, de- 

 notes weakness, and is liable eventually to give way 

 altogether. All backs, however straight, through the 

 wasting of the muscles and the constant pressure of 

 weight along the top line, with age become swayed; 

 but a back starting out with this formation becomes 

 doubly weak. A slightly "roached" back often de- 

 notes muscular development, whereas a pronounced 

 roach is a detriment not only because it is unsightly 

 but principally because it is apt to signify that the 

 horse is muscle-bound at this point. 



The ribs should be well arched and "run well back," 

 although a horse must not be too closely ribbed. If a 

 horse's ribs are not sufficiently sprung, and he is flat- 

 sided, there will be insufficient room for his digestive 

 organs. Horses thus formed are termed "light in the 

 barrel," and will seldom stand up to hard work. It 

 is extremely difficult for the inexperienced to tell 

 exactly how well ribbed up an animal is. If he is in 

 poor condition they are inclined to think him light in 

 the ribs, whereas the same animal, if he is fat and "fit 

 for the knife," will not show the defect at all. It takes 



