Present Varieties of the Horse. 19 



degree of contraction, which is the bane of the thorough- 

 bred horse. 



The hind-quarter is the chief agent in propulsion, and 

 is therefore of the utmost consequence in attaining high 

 speed. It is often asserted that the oblique shoulder is 

 the grand requisite in this object, and that it is the part 

 upon which speed mainly depends, and in which it may 

 be said to reside. This is to some extent true, because 

 there can be no doubt that with a loaded shoulder high 

 speed is impracticable ; for however powerfully the body 

 may be propelled, yet when the fore-quarter touches the 

 ground, it does not bound off again as smartly as it ought 

 to do, and the pace is consequently slow. For the full 

 action of the hind-quarter two things are necessary, viz. : 

 — first, length and volume of muscle; and secondly, length 

 of leverage upon which that muscle may act. Hence, all 

 the bones comprising the hind-quarter should be long, 

 but the comparative length must vary a good deal, in 

 order that the parts upon which the muscles lie may be 

 long, rather than those connected with the tendons, which 

 are mere ropes, and have no propelling power residing in 

 them, but only transmit that which they derive from the 

 muscles themselves. Thus, the hips should be long and 

 wide, and the two upper divisions of the limb— viz., the 

 stifle and lower thigh — should be long, strong, and fully 

 developed. By this formation the stifle-joint is brought 

 well forward, and there is a considerable angle between 

 these two divisions. The hock should be bony and strong, 

 free from gum or spavin, and the point long, and so set on 

 as to be free from weakness at the situation of curb. In 

 examining the hind-quarter to judge of its muscular de- 

 velopment, the horse should not be looked at sideways, 

 but his tail should be raised, and it should be ascertained 

 that the muscles of the two limbs meet together below the 

 anus, which should be in fact well supported by them, and 

 not left loose, and, as it were, in a deep and flaccid hollow. 

 The outline of the outer part of the thigh should be full, 

 and in ordinary horses the muscle should swell out beyond 

 the level of the point of the hip. This fulness, however, 

 is not often seen to this extent in the thorough-bred horse 



