32 Cross Country with Horse and Hound 



the former. Personally, I prefer a rather straight shoulder- 

 blade, with high, full, sloping withers, to the most slanting 

 shoulder-blade with low withers that lets the saddle forward 

 on the shoulders. It is not enough to go strong on slant- 

 ing shoulders, when it is quite as much a question of the 

 conformation of the withers, and more a question of the 

 setting on of the fore legs. That many men confound 

 withers and shoulders, there can be little doubt ; this point 

 is fully illustrated at page 32. Nor is this all: if a horse, 

 as is quite often the case, has slanting shoulders, and also a 

 long oblique true arm that brings the setting on of the fore 

 legs well back, you have lost at this point all you have 

 gained by the slanting shoulder. In other words, when 

 you have a slanting shoulder with a long oblique true arm, 

 it may bring the fore leg so far back that the centre of 

 gravity has practically been moved ahead. So far, there- 

 fore, as gravity is concerned, you might just as well have 

 either a straight shoulder with high, full withers, or a 

 straight shoulder with a short upright and true arm. Or, 

 again, if you have a slanting shoulder with a long oblique 

 true arm, or a slanting shoulder with low withers, the end 

 in view has been defeated. I have dwelt on this at length 

 because slanting shoulders are everywhere so much in 

 favour, as if they were the alpha and omega of a hunter's 

 conformation. At page 32 will be found an illustration 

 (Fig. 3) showing the conformation of an ideal hunter with 

 full, sloping withers that bring the rider well back over the 

 centre of gravity on the upper line ; it will be observed, too, 

 from the position where the girth would come, that the 

 fore legs also are properly placed ; that is, well forward. 



