EXTERNAL FORMATION. 67 



ciently delicate to register that weight. A. and B. carry a weight 

 between them, suspended to a pole, and they find it more conve- 

 nient to have that pole tolerably long, because they can shift the 

 weight from one to the other more easily than with a shorter one, 

 but they carry the same weight in either case. A. can raise it by 

 means of his long lever more easily than with a short one, but he 

 can only effect this by making use of B.'s hand as a fulcrum, and 

 for the moment throwing the weight off himself upon it, while B. 

 returns the compliment in his turn, and both are relieved. For 

 the mere purpose of carrying weight, therefore, a short back is to 

 be preferred ; but there is a limitation put to this by the necessity 

 for length of limb to give pace, and if the legs are too long for the 

 back, the action of the fore-quarter is impeded by the hind, and 

 vice versa. Hence, in all horses, a reasonable length is preferred, 

 and this will vary according to the occasion for weight-carrying 

 power. In the thorough-bred horse, pace is essential, and his back 

 must consequently be of sufficient length to allow the free use of 

 such limbs as will give stride enough to develop it. We shall 

 hereafter find, that the cart-horse may have a much shorter back, 

 even though he has no weight to carry, but he requires strong 

 couplings of the hind and fore-quarter for the former to act upon, 

 in dragging heavy weights, and as in him pace, beyond the walk, 

 is never required, a short back may be allowed to be a great advan- 

 tage, without any attendant evil. 



The most important elements of strength in the back and loins 

 are the depth and breadth of its muscles, for they, and not the 

 bones, as I have shown, are the real mechanical means by which 

 not only weight is carried but propelled. Now to lodge these mus- 

 cles, there must be high spinous processes, wide hips, and such a 

 formation of the ribs as to give width at their upper parts. Gene- 

 rally speaking the two last coincide, but sometimes the hips stand 

 out in a very "ragged" or prominent position, while the ribs are 

 flat. This formation, however, comes next to the most approved 

 combination, and is far better than the narrow hips and flat sides 

 which we now see in too many of our thorough-bred horses. In 

 connection with this division of the body may be taken the croup, 

 the upper outline of which is formed by the prolongation of the 

 spine towards the root of the tail; but the essential parts are made 

 up by the pelvis. It is very generally assumed that in order to 

 develop high speed, the pelvis must be long, and this I believe to 

 be perfectly true ; but the length need not be in a perfectly hori- 

 zontal direction, and is I think much better if developed at an 

 inclination of about twenty-five degrees, that is to say, with a con- 

 siderable fall. With this formation there may be the same length 

 for the attachment of muscles, and the same leverage in their action 

 on the thigh, for the situation of the hip joint (or round bone) is 



