10 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



wards from shoulder to hoof the rider must be very- 

 cautious, for he has to do with a stumbler. A draught- 

 hoi'se, on the other hand, ought to lean a little for- 

 ward over his fore feet when at rest. That portion 

 of his own weight which brings down the ill-made 

 saddle-horse on his knees, is by the draught-horse 

 thrown against the collar, and helps him in his 

 labour. Look at a team straining hard to drag a 

 heavy wagon out of a rut or over some obstruction : 

 they fling themselves forward, so as to be kept from 

 falling only by the traces, just as you may see a man 

 doing who tugs at a rope fastened to a canal-boat, or 

 a truck. Again, though the hunter and the racer 

 are both made for speed, they must each exhibit cer- 

 tain peculiarities of form adapted to the work they 

 have respectively to do. The hunter requires great 

 strength and elasticity in his forehand, to enable him 

 to bear the shock with which he alights on the 

 ground from a leap. In the racer, on the contrary, 

 the principal power is wanted from behind, to propel 

 the animal forward in his gallop ; and the very low- 

 ness of the forehand may throw more weight in front, 

 and cause the whole machine to be more easily and 

 speedily moved. The hind-legs of the greyhound are 

 longer than the fore-legs ; the difference is still more 

 remarkable in the hare, and it is seen in an extraor- 



