POINTS FROM WHICH THE PROPORTIONS ARE STUDIED. 389 



will appear short, but the second will always have the appearance of a 

 long animal ; however, that the minimum difference is accurate may be 

 verified by the use of the compass. According to this, we may im- 

 agine the still greater apparent difference which would be produced by 

 this second horse if the length compared with the height had been 

 three heads instead of two and three-fourths. 



One of the most extraordinary horses, in this respect, which we 

 have measured was two heads and four-fifths long ; it is needless to add 

 that it was entirely defective in other respects. Horses which do not 

 reach two heads and one-half in length are far from being common ; 

 still, we have noticed several examples. 



However this may be, it is important to recognize the fact that the 

 pure and simple consideration of the length of the body is insufficient 

 to form an opinion as to the shortness of the dorso-lumbar column, a 

 sine qua non condition of his strength and aptness to properly utilize 

 the impulsive action of the hind-quarters. This results from the 

 length being an organic sum whose elements are : 1st, the length of 

 the spine ; 2d, the length, the direction, as well as the relative situa- 

 tion of the shoulder and the croup. It is plain that the point of the 

 shoulder and that of the buttock will be still more distant from each 

 other as they belong respectively to regions longer, more inclined, and 

 more separated. 



The question, then, is to determine in what way the spinal column 

 is covered by these regions. Now, the scapulo-iliac distance comprised 

 between the dorsal angle of the scapulum and the angle of the haunch 

 furnishes a rather convenient means of obtaining this result. This dis- 

 tance, as we have already seen in speaking of the shoulder (page 203), 

 is equal to that of the head in all beautiful horses. If it is found to 

 exceed this, we may infer that it depends either upon the excessive 

 length of the loins or the position of the shoulder and the croup. As 

 the disposition of these may be easily appreciated, since they occupy a 

 superficial position, it follows that, all things being equal, the horse 

 which has the greatest separation between the dorsal angle of the 

 scapula and the haunch will also be provided with the longest spine, 

 and will be the most predisposed to become sway-backed. 



But an excess of length does not always imply a like formati n of 

 the vertebral column. De Saint- Ange^ has explained this judicious 

 remark by means of an ingenious graphic demonstration, of which the 

 scheme of Fig. 142 is only the reproduction. The subjects Nos. 1 and 



> De Saint-Ange, Cours d'hippologie, t. i. p. 154, Saumur, 1850. 



