8 JUDGING LIGHT HORSES 



II. JUDGING LIGHT HORSES. 



/. General Examination. 



In the general examination of horses, the form, quality 

 and action are the chief features requiring consideration. 

 This examination takes in the horse as a whole, while the 

 structural examination requires detailed criticism of each 

 part independent of others. 



5. Form The Contribution of Skeleton and Muscle. 



To be able to accurately estimate the form of a horse, it is 

 necessary to understand the extent to which the form is 

 due to the skeleton and how much of it depends on the 

 muscular development. 



A comparison of a skeleton of a horse with a living and 

 well developed animal will show clearly that some parts 

 owe their form to the framework of bone, while other re- 

 gions are shaped wholly by the muscle. Beginning at the 

 head, it will be noticed that the form of it is determined 

 almost altogether by the bones that comprise it. The out- 

 lines of the neck, however, are just as distinctly due to the 

 muscular development of that region. The shoulder and 

 chest are outlined in form chiefly by the skeleton though 

 smoothened with muscle. The shape of the leg from the 

 knee upwards to the body is determined by muscles of 

 that region, while from the knee to the fetlock the outline 

 is due largely to the tendons that make the leg at this 

 point appear flat from the side. The common supposition 

 is that the leg appears flat from the side view because the 

 bone is flat, but the fact is the flat appearance is due to 

 the degree to which the tendons stand back from the bone. 



6. Propelling Power Resides in Hind Quarters. A 



study of the degree to which the skeleton and the muscular 

 development contribute to the form of a horse, brings into 

 prominence the idea that most of the power resides in the 

 hind parts. The fact that the greatest muscular develop- 

 ment is in that region would indicate this. 



