214 THE FORE LIMB. 



the Breeding and Management of Draught-horses, while 

 recommendino; that the shoulders should be massive and well 



o 



thrown outwards to afford ample space for the collar, cautions 

 his readers, as follows, against extreme views as to oblique 

 shoulders : — "■ Many good judges insist that a cart-horse 

 should possess ver)'- sloping shoulders. Whilst admitting the 

 necessity of such a conformation for good saddle and light 

 harness horses, and appreciating its beauty in heavy animals, 

 I am decidedly opposed to the opinion, on the ground that 

 such a form is almost invariably associated with thin withers 

 and shoulder blades closely applied to the front ribs, affording 

 an insufficient and. insecure seat for the collar, and, 

 consequently, one very defective for the purposes of heavy 

 draught." 



Horses — like the heavy draught animals of Edinburgh, 

 Liverpool and Manchester — that have toe-pieces on their 

 shoes, and consequently make full use of their fore legs as 

 propellers, should, for this object, have fairly upright shoulders, 

 and should have no bearing-reins, which would impede them 

 in advancing and lowering their heads. Dray-horses, like 

 those in London which have flat shoes in front, should have 

 sloping shoulders. I may, therefore, venture to settle this 

 question by saying that heavy cart-horses which are not 

 required to go out of a walk, and which, in order to perform 

 their work to the best possible advantage, ought to have toe- 

 pieces, should have upright shoulders ; and that those which 

 have to trot as well as to walk, should have sloping ones. If 

 the ground, such as wood pavement or asphalte, be unsuitable 

 to the use of toe-pieces, the animals, even if they have not to 

 go out of a walk, should have oblique shoulders, because in 

 this case the fore legs will be concerned more in maintaining 



