150 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



are irregular and incomplete, unless this state be due to the mode 

 of alimentation, or to the special functional gymnastics to which the 

 race-horse is submitted. 



A too voluminous abdomen denotes an animal of a ravenous appe- 

 tite, of common breeding, or reared in low and damp countries with 

 coarse, very aqueous, and innutritions food. Being compelled to take a 

 large quantity of these aliments in order to obtain the necessary nutri- 

 tive material, the horse submitted to this regimen has a distended 

 stomach and intestines which, pressing against the posterior face of the 

 diaphragm, compress the heart and the lungs. The muscles remain 

 feeble, flabby, and little developed ; the skin becomes thick and the 

 hairs coarse; the form is thick and clumsy, and the constitution soft. 

 The step is heavy, the respiration constrained by the weight of the 

 intestinal mass. The pace is impeded by the lowering and forward 

 displacement of the centre of gravity, and this fact renders the horse 

 unable to execute even the least laborious efforts for any length of time. 



In young horses, from the nature and the quantity of the sub- 

 stances which they ingest, the abdomen is ordinarily voluminous. They 

 receive little grain, and their diet consists principally of dry forage 

 and of grass which they obtain in pastures. In broodmares the 

 abdomen is also more developed, either from the fact of gestation or 

 from the peculiarities of their food. 



We do not believe, as some veterinarians do, that the volume of 

 the abdomen has any influence upon the disposition of the horse. If 

 certain subjects are irritable, whimsical, gentle, or quiet, their disposition 

 pertains to their inherent nature, and not exclusively to the conforma- 

 tion of such or such a part of the body. In fact, the exceptions to 

 the rule proposed by the veterinarians we have alluded to are so fre- 

 quent that it is not necessary to give this matter any further attention. 



Form. The abdomen, of which the form is in close proportion 

 to its volume, is generally cylindrical in those animals that are well 

 nourished. 



If its inferior line, instead of describing the graceful curve of 

 which we have spoken, passes obliquely backward and upward, as we 

 observe it in greyhounds, it is called greyhound-like. 



The horse which presents it is lank, deficient in the volume of the 

 bowels and of the body, which possess poor assimilation ; too much air 

 passes underneath the abdomen ; the digestive functions are imperfect. 

 Arrived in the stable after a long drive, he stands back from the man- 

 ger, sulks over his food, reads the newspaper, according to the language 

 of horsemen, and is incapable the next day of resuming his work. 



