262 WEIGHT-CARRYING AND STAYING POWER. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



WEIGHT-CARRYING AND STAYING POWER. 



Weight-carrying Power. — The special points for 

 weight-carrying power, are : — 



1. Length and obliquity of shoulder-blade (i-^^ p. 207). 

 One might be inclined to think that very oblique 



shoulders are not an advantage from a weight-carrying 

 point of view ; for they necessitate the saddle being put 

 farther back on the horse, than would be the case with 

 shoulders of only a moderate slope. At the same time, 

 we must remember that with horses of the same depth of 

 body at the withers, the more oblique the shoulder-blades, 

 the longer they will be. 



2. Strong loin muscles. 



3. Good substance and fine quality of bone. 

 Ormonde (Frontispiece), "the horse of the century," and 



St. Gatien, the dead-heater for the Derby and winner of the 

 Cesarewitch, were horses of great bone, and were marvellous 

 weiofht carriers. 



4. Pasterns not too sloping. 



5. Absence of undue weight of body beyond that which 

 would be necessary for the movements of the limbs, and for 

 the performance of the various vital functions. 



The foregoing rules would apply to all classes of horses. 



