42 JUDGING FARM ANIMALS 



they thickened they got slow. Muscles vary greatly in their 

 activity in the body, and naturally each plays its special 

 part. To illustrate, the muscle attached to the back of a 

 leg joint, being constantly used to flex or close the joint, 

 is active and tough, vs^hile the short, thick muscles in the 

 loins, are relatively but little used, and consequently lack 

 in toughness. Among the many muscles of the horse the 

 foUovs'ing are of special interest. The head is bent by the 

 muscles that extend from the lower jaw to the breast bone. 

 Another muscle from the poll to the withers regulates the 

 extension of the head. One heavy muscle, the complexus, 

 in the upper part of the neck, gives much of the shape to 

 this part. The most powerful muscle in the body extends 

 from the neck along the back to the sacrum and beyond, 

 and is closely attached to the backbone, pelvis and upper 

 part of the ribs, forming in fact most of the fleshy outline 

 of the back and loins. The shoulder blade is connected 

 with the body by a strong, fan-shaped muscle on its under 

 side, attached in front at the neck and behind at the ribs. 

 The blade moves forward or backward, according to con- 

 traction of the muscle. Another muscle on the outside of 

 the blade extends to the withers, head and neck, and assists 

 in moving the shoulder. One long muscle, extending from 

 the poll and neck to the humerus, moves the foreleg for- 

 ward. The freest action of shoulder and forelimb is as- 

 sociated with a long neck and prominent withers. A num- 

 ber of important muscles and tendons assisting in regulat- 

 ing movements of the fore limb, are attached at the lower 

 part of shoulder and the leg below. In the quarters we 

 find powerful muscles for producing either force or speed. 

 One of the most important, the large croup muscle, extends 

 from the front of the pelvis around over the croup to .the 

 upper part of the thigh bone. The large muscles on the 

 back of the thigh, lead from the under side of the pelvis 

 to the upper part of the tibia. The gaskin, the smaller 

 part of the thigh above the hock, has two important muscles 

 on its rear side. These start from the lower end of the 



