The magnificent action of this steeplechaser is evi- 

 dently due to the perfection of his hindquarter, to the 

 length of his femur, which allows him to resume contact 

 with the ground further under the center of gravity, to 

 the power of the muscles which move this lever, to the 

 strength of his leg which gives remarkable firmness to 

 his gallop, to the soundness of his hocks ; but all these 

 qualities would not be sufficient to compensate for the 

 weak point resulting from the bad direction of his 

 shoulder, were it not for the absolutely exceptional play 

 of his loin which, according to accepted rules, is a little 

 too long and which would be weak in a horse with a less 

 exceptional femur and muscles. According to us it is 

 this play of the lumbar arch, whose importance we 

 pointed out in the first pages of this study, which is one 

 of the principal factors in the gallop of Jerry-M. 



Would the winner of this big steeplechase be a hunter 

 out of the ordinary in a rolling country? It is doubtful. 

 The direction of his shoulders would certainly make him 

 a horse hard to use at a fast pace down hill, and when, 

 after a hard day the remarkable play of his lumbar arch 

 became paralyzed or even restricted by fatigue, he would 

 be in an unfavorable condition of equilibrium. 



With a shorter loin and a more sloping croup, Jerry-M 

 could carry a house, but then it is very probable that he 

 would no longer have the same facility of jumping and 

 galloping. 



Of quite a different model, but none the less worthy 

 of attention, is the celebrated mare Basse-Pointe, of 

 whom the " Sport Universel Illustre," in its last number 

 of October, 191 1, gives us a very fine photograph. 



What strikes us at first in Basse-Pointe is the perfect 

 direction of her shoulder and arm, the width of her chest, 

 the line of her withers and back. Her croup is strongly 

 sloping and not that of a stayer; but it is to be noticed 

 that the coxo-femoral angle is very open, that the femur 



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