138 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



more oblique direction of the ilium (35 degrees). As to hunters and 

 cavalry horses, used exclusively under the saddle, and from which 

 great strength of the loins and posterior quarters, but less speed, are 

 demanded, their croup should have an intermediary position between 

 the oblique croup of the draught-horse and the horizontal one of the 

 thoroughbred. The ilium should incline 35 degrees, and the ischium 

 be slightly lowered, in such a manner that the ilio-ischial line shall 

 preserve this intermediate relation. 



2. Driving-horses, employed on the track or as animals of luxury, 

 whose exclusive gait is the trot, without any weight on the back, can, 

 without disadvantage, have a horizontal croup. This is appreciated as 

 a quality of beauty and fashion as well as for its mechanical advan- 

 tages in rapid locomotion. 



3. In draught-horses for fast, heavy work, or mixed motors, com- 

 bining at the same time force from their bulk and their muscular power, 

 and a certain speed from their relative muscular activity, united with 

 the length of the segments, a croup slightly more inclined than that of 

 the cavalry horse or the trotting-horse will fulfil the required conditions. 



Errors in the Estimation of the Direction of the Croup. — 

 The deep situation of the coxo-femoral structure, the large mass of 

 muscles which cover and conceal it, more or less, and, finally, the com- 

 plexity of the function which it fulfils as an apparatus of station, impul- 

 sion, and locomotion, render its study particularly difficult. Without 

 a trained eye, capable of observing and often inferring the anatomy 

 through the external form, errors are not only possible but frequent, 

 even with experts. Some prefer the horizontal and others the oblique 

 direction, while still others have no preference between the two direc- 

 tions, but assert that the inclination of the coxa alone is without effect 

 on the locomotory aptitude. 



Nevertheless, here, as in all other circumstances, the correct method 

 of selection is regular and scientific. Each direction offers advantages 

 which correlate with some determined exigency or need ; each one also 

 has its expediencies with regard to the qualities of speed or of force 

 which it is desired to obtain. Tlie difficulty lies in establishing the kind 

 of conformation which is suitable to each special case. 



In order to accomplish this, a thorough examination of the parts is 

 required, irrespective of special appearances. Nothing, for example, 

 produces such a deceptive appearance of horizontality in the croup, 

 as the slight prominence and small convexity of the superior line and 

 the horizontal direction of the ischium and the sacrum. Conversely, 

 a depressed ischium and sacrum and a superior surface curved and 



