LENGTH OF LIMB. 153 



powerful of all horses, is about 9 inches longer than he is 

 high. The difference between the two types with respect to 

 their length of leg, as compared to their depth of chest, is 

 equally well marked. The intermediate classes, in this respect, 

 partake, as a rule, of the characteristics of the respective 

 types to which they are most nearly allied. Thus, if we take 

 Ormonde (Frontispiece) as the highest type of the race-horse, 

 we shall find that the distance from the top of his withers to 

 his brisket, if applied down his fore leg, will reach from his 

 brisket only to the bottom of his fetlock. In the light-weight 

 hunter {see PI. 15) it will come down to the middle of the 

 pastern ; in the middle-weight hunter, to the coronet ; in the 

 heavy-weight trooper or light cart-horse, to the ground ; and 

 in a Cheadle Jumbo, it will be four inches more in length. 

 Hence we may conclude that the term, "short on the leg," 

 is one to denote the possession of strength rather than of 

 speed. The reckless manner in which it is used with respect 

 to race-horses is as incorrect as; it is ridiculous. I may add, 

 that with age, good feeding and want of exercise, a horse 

 usually lengthens, deepens, and thickens somewhat as re- 

 gards his height. Mr. W. F. Shaw, F.R.C.V.S., who has 

 charge of the horses belonging to the London Streets Tram- 

 way Company, tells me that he has frequently observed that 

 comparatively light, well-bred horses, when put to tramway 

 work at about five years of age, thicken and get coarse after 

 a few months, to a far greater extent than if they had been 

 used at fast paces. I need hardly say that labour between 

 the rails is slow ; and the feeding (eighteen pounds of corn 

 and twelve pounds of hay) ample for these not very large 

 animals. We may accept the fact that both muscles and bones 

 accommodate themselves in time to the nature of the work to 



