CHAPTER I. 



THE FRAMEWORK OF THE HORSE CONSIDERED FROM 

 A MECHANICAL POINT OF VIEW. 



THE skeleton of the horse is a very wonderful and 

 beautiful piece of mechanism, which no one who 

 takes an interest in such matters can contemplate with- 

 out experiencing the pleasurable feeling that perfect 

 harinony of proportion always inspires. We were 

 about to add, fitness and adaptability to our purposes, 

 but remembered, just in proper time, that this would 

 be, after all, a very incorrect mode of expression ; for, 

 in truth, what is highly desirable is, that we should 

 limit and adapt our requirements to the capabilities of 

 this mechanism, and not simply to our own conve- 

 nience, which but too frequently leads to abuse, as we 

 shall now proceed to show. 



The horse depicted in Plate L* is of an average 

 description, and stands in a natural position, its head 

 and neck stretched forward, and the hind legs, instead 

 of being perfectly perpendicular from the hocks down- 

 ward, slightly brought forward to assist in maintaining 

 the equilibrium. The animal is at rest; there is no- 

 thing constrained in its attitude ; but the eye tells us 

 at once that a somewhat greater proportion of its weight 

 rests on the fore legs than on the hind ones, owing, as 

 one sees, to the projecting position of the head and 

 * Taken from Seeger's " System der Reitkunst." 



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