212 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



defective direction of the shoulder, these members will be advanced 

 with much more difficulty, as they will be required to support a greater 

 portion of the body-weight. Under these circumstances, if the animal 

 be able to perform good service at the gallop or the trot on level 

 roads, he becomes dangerous in descending hills or on rough roads, 

 and is predisposed to stumbling and falling when he increases his 

 speed. 



Finally, the shoulder merits our attention from a point of view of 

 the modifications which may supervene in its direction. 

 According to the mode of subsistence or the employment of the 

 region, it becomes straight or inclined, oblique or straight, as it was at 

 first. A long time ago, Ch. de Sourdeval, in the Journal des Haras, 

 had already recognized the influence of the attitudes which animals 

 assume to obtain their nourishment. This accurate observer has proved 

 that the shoulder becomes more vertical in those which are obliged to 

 eat from the ground, or which are maintained in pasturage, whilst it 

 becomes more oblique in those which are fed in the stable and receive 

 their food from a high manger. Besides, a majority of horsemen think 

 that a proper dressing of the saddle-horse in the riding-school will in- 

 cline the scapular segment to a notable degree, and that the continuous 

 pressure of the collar will straighten the shoulder of the draught-horse. 

 This is also our opinion. 



Position. — It suffices not that the shoulder be long and well 

 directed, it should also be properly placed against the vertebral col- 

 umn, — that is to say, so situated as to maintain a proper separation 

 between itself and the croup. When this condition is not fulfilled, 

 the vertebral column is too long, lacks force, transmits the impulsive 

 action of the posterior limbs feebly, and becomes sway-backed as a 

 consequence. This defect, very common in draught-horses, is nearly 

 always accompanied and complicated by a vicious direction and insuffi- 

 cient length of the scapula, which is then called short, straight, or for- 

 ward. We can determine that it is not so by measuring the distance 

 between the dorsal angle of the scapula and the angle of the haunch. 

 In a natural conformation this distance is about equal to the lengthy 

 of the head, while in disproportionate subjects it may measure one- 

 fourth or even one-third more. (See Proportions, length of the body.) 

 Volume or Muscular Development. — The volume of the 

 muscles of the shoulder is an indispensable element of its beauty, 

 whatever may be its relative function. This qualification has different 

 degrees, dependent upon the race, the temperament, and the mode of 

 rearing and subsistence. The muscles of the English thoroughbred are 



