']2 DISTRIBUTION OF WEIGHT. 



lighter in front than the horse, if we may judge by a com- 

 parison between their respective powers of rearing. I am 

 incHned to think that the custom of feeding horses from a 

 manger which is raised off the ground, tends to make a horse 

 light in front. A prevalent idea among experienced men is 

 that a young horse " fines down " about the withers and 

 shoulders after he has been taken up from grass and has 

 been stabled and worked under ordinary conditions. This 

 " fining down " would, I think, chiefly consist in increased 

 obliquity of the shoulder blade. I may remark that the 

 conformation of boys and girls is usually susceptible of 

 considerable change for the better by a course of judicious 

 gymnastics and " setting up " drill. 



However much or little the proportion of weight borne by 

 the fore legs, as compared to that carried by the hind limbs, 

 is in excess of that which would be most suitable for mere 

 purposes of locomotion ; experiment proves that the pro- 

 portion of weight in front is considerably increased by the 

 fact of a man being placed on the horse's back. Hence, in 

 any case, the breaker should try to teach the horse which 

 is intended for saddle work, to carry himself in such a 

 way that, when mounted, the weight of horse and rider 

 will be so distributed that the weight on the forehand, as 

 compared with that on the hind legs, will be less in 

 proportion to that borne under similar circumstances by the 

 untaught horse when at liberty. Unfortunately it is 

 impossible to give exact rules as to obtaining the most 

 advantageous distribution of weight, which must be left to 

 the judgment of the breaker, and which will evidently be 

 different to that naturally adopted by the animal I may 



