THE HORSE 15 



The withers should be high, but their leanness is 

 not so important in the harness as in the saddle- 

 horse. They should extend far back in the direc- 

 tion of the tail, as this will give what riders call a 

 " long rein." It is noticeable that hackneys, which 

 we may regard as an essentially exaggerated type 

 of fancy harness horse, have as a rule thick necks, 

 somewhat loaded, but long, v\'ell laid back shoulders, 

 and not over high withers, so presumably this con- 

 formation is necessary to, or comes as a sequence 

 to, exaggerated action and considerable speed at 

 the trot. The objection to loaded shoulders is 

 minimized if they are long and sloping, and the 

 serious drawback of straight shoulders is to some 

 extent compensated for if the horse has a light 

 head and neck and sloping pasterns. 



Body 

 Every variety of horse should be fairly short in 

 back. That is to say, the distance from the 

 posterior termination of the withers to the promi- 

 nence at the anterior part of the croup (the inner 

 angle of the pelvis) should be short if the horse is 

 to have the greatest power of propelling his body 

 forward, and is to be therefore speedy. The loins 

 should be flat and broad, so as to give room for the 



