XCll INTRODUCTION. 



terms the bones of the pelvis and femur, together with the 

 muscles which cover or are attached to them. 



The upper or iliac portion of the pelvis, commonly termed 

 the haunch-bone, projects more or less outward. To this 

 part large muscles are attached, subservient to the move- 

 ments of the posterior limbs. The haunch-bone should, 

 therefore, be relatively large, and even an apparent coarse- 

 ness of it may be tolerated. A horse in which the projection 

 is so great as to appear uri symmetrical, is said to be " ragged 

 in the hips." It is not, however, to be desired that the part 

 shall be ragged, as it is called, but simply that the width of 

 the haunch, measured over the iliac protuberances of the 

 pelvis, shall be large, as indicating the lateral expansion of 

 the haunch. 



The pelvis and femur form an angle with one another, and 

 by the forcible extension of the latter backwards by the 

 action of the muscles, the main spring is given by which the 

 body of the animal is urged forward. Hence will appear the 

 advantage of an increased length of the femur, by which the 

 means are afforded of giving a large sweep or spring, when 

 it is extended by the action of the muscles. Further, the 

 length of the femur is indicated externally by the length of 

 the haunch, measured from the haunch-bone backwards ; and 

 hence it is, that length of haunch in this direction is charac- 

 teristic of the power of progression of the horse. Further,, 

 as the movements of the posterior limbs must be performed 

 by muscles of great power, we desire that the muscles of the 

 haunch shall be of sufficient volume. This, too, is indicated 

 to the eye by the expansion of the haunch in its different 

 directions. 



In the English race-horse, the character of a large quarter 

 is developed in a greater degree than in any other known 

 race of horses. And not in the horse only, but in all swift- 

 footed quadrupeds, the power of rapid motion has an inti- 

 mate relation with the expansion of the posterior extremity. 

 In the greyhound, which is the fleetest of all the races of 



