140 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



power. This is a common defect in many horses of a sluggish and 

 lymphatic temperament and raised in low, marshy districts. 



Forms. — The different forms of the croup are dependent upon : 



1. The dimensions, length, and width. 



2. The direction of its large axis. 



3. The direction of its superior line. 



4. The muscular develojament. 



5. The movements. 



The description of these which we have already given above will 

 allow us to notice them rajjidly in review. 



1. In relation to its dimensions, the croup can be long or shorty 

 wide or narrow. When the haunches and the points of the buttocks 

 are in planes which tend to be parallel, and at the same time the region is 

 long and wide, the horse is said to be square behind, a qualification 

 which is to be admired, because it gives force and velocity.^ When 

 the croup has a certain width in front but is narrower behind, it takes 

 the names almond-shaped, mule-like; the horse viewed from behind 

 appears narrotv, pointed. 



2. In relation to its great axis, we know that the croup may be 

 oblique or horizontal. These terms are applicable to these directions 

 when the latter exist in an ordinary degree ; when they are not exag- 

 gerated. It often happens that they become faulty from an excess or a 

 deficiency in the one sense or the other. 



Too horizontal, it lacks force, renders the animal incapable of sup- 

 porting the least weight on his back, and alters the vertical axis of the 

 posterior limb by displacing the latter too far backward. Too oblique^ 

 it acts prejudicially to this axis by placing the limb too far under the 

 trunk, transmits the force of impulsion ineflFectively, and predisposes 

 the back to disease from undue strain. It is then called low, cut-off^ 

 slanting. 



3. Direction of its Superior Line. — When the sacral spine is 

 prominent, so that the sides slope strongly outward, downward, and 

 backward, as is remarked in certain strains of horses in the south of 

 central France, the croup is designated sharp or mide-like. This con- 

 formation, quite common in the barb-horse of Andalusia, becomes 

 defective only when it is accompanied by a narrowness of the posterior 

 quarters, lessening the strength of the parts and the velocity of the gait. 



The croup is called hen-tailed when it presents a more or less dis- 

 tinct depression anterior to the base of the tail. In such animals the 



1 A. Rivet, Guide pratique de I'aclieteur de chevaux, 1877. 



