EXTERNAL FORM. Ixxxix 



are low, the saddle bears upon the shoulder, and the rider 

 neither feels nor possesses that security which the elevated 

 shoulder gives. The horse of this form, however suited for 

 direct progression, is rarely well adapted to quick turnings, 

 and the other movements which we seek to communicate by 

 education. The want of space for the attachment of the 

 muscles of the neck, if compensated at all, must be so by an 

 enlargement of the muscles themselves, which renders the 

 shoulders thick, and what is called " cloddy." Cloddy shoul- 

 ders, indeed, are not inconsistent with good properties in the 

 saddle-horse ; but the far greater presumption is, that they 

 will have the effect of rendering him heavy before, unplea- 

 sant to the rider, and unsafe. They are not even absolutely 

 inconsistent with great speed, though their existence is ad- 

 verse to the expectation of this character. In Eclipse, the 

 shoulder was cloddy in a remarkable degree, but this proves 

 only that one defect may be counterbalanced by great excel- 

 lencies, as was the case in this remarkable horse, whose obli- 

 quity of shoulder, and vast expansion of the posterior extre- 

 mities, were sufficient to produce his surpassing powers of 

 progression, without our being allowed to infer that those 

 powers would have been less, had the spinous processes been 

 increased, and the muscular substance attached to them di- 

 minished. 



The dorsal and lumbar vertebrae, with the muscles cover- 

 ing them, form the back. Debates have sometimes taken 

 place regarding the proper length of this part. But the pro- 

 portion of this, as of other parts of the frame, is not subject 

 to any definite rule. A short back, like a short rod, is more 

 strong than one of the same substance which is extended in 

 length. A short back, in the horse, indicates strength and 

 capability of bearing the burden of the rider. Further, it 

 indicates hardiness of constitution, the power of supporting 

 fatigue, and the property of subsisting on a small quantity 

 of food. When we seek, then, for a horse, as the road-horse 



