THE LEGS. 37 



the circumstance of the animal having less burthen to carry, but 

 because, with the length and looseness of loin with which it is 

 commonly associated, it adds to the facility and extent of the stride, 

 allowing of the fuller accomplishment of that projection of the 

 hind legs which tells so much in galloping progression. On the 

 other hand, a horse that is wanted not more for speed than endur- 

 ance, for heavy and hard hunting, or for any purpose of strength 

 or lasting, must not possess this receding carcass and looseness of 

 loin : he must be well ribbed up, and short in his flanks, and let 

 down in his belly ; must, to use the dealer's well-known phrases, 

 possess " a good bread-basket," and look " as if he always carried 

 his dinner with him." A horse so made, indeed, can hardly ever 

 appear tucked up : the muscles forming the flanks are too short to 

 contract much, and the ribs are too near the hips to admit of much 

 compression of the bowels. After a long and fatiguing day with 

 hounds, a horse with loose flanks and loins will appear as though 

 he were " cut in two," as the saying goes : whereas, a horse well 

 ribbed up, will hardly, after the same, shew any signs of work. 

 What is understood by the phrase " constitution," under which is 

 comprehended the power of standing work and of " coming again," 

 or performing a great deal in a given time, cannot exist in any 

 horse devoid or defective of middle piece. 



LECTURE IV. 



THE LEGS. 



" The legs of a horse should have a due proportion in their length and 

 strength to the weight and size of the carcass." — Farrier's Dictionary. 



A SORT of general division may be made of the component 

 pieces of the animal machine into parts supported and parts sup- 

 porting, or, as having reference to loco-motion, into parts moved 

 and parts moving. The body or trunk, including the appendage 

 of the head and neck, which we have already considered, con- 

 stitutes one division, while the four limbs, which we are now 

 about to discourse on, make up the other. 



