6 Animal Husbandry 
Arabian; and Matchem, descending from Godolphin Barb. The 
Thoroughbred has been bred without stain of alien blood for; 
considerably more than a century, and subjected to the most. 
rigorous system of selection for strength and staying power by the 
test of performance on the turf. 
5. Description of the Thoroughbred horse. — The head is fine 
and lean and of moderate size; the eyes prominent and intelligent ; 
and the ears of medium size and carried in a lively manner. The 
neck is long and fine; the shoulders slope obliquely back; the 
chest tends to be narrow yet deep; the body is cylindrical with 
the depth at withers rather less than half the height, and with 
the underline from elbow to stifle longer than the top line from 
withers to hips. The croup is long and level, with the tail at- 
tached medium high and carried gracefully. The hindquarters 
are a distinctive feature of the breed, being long, strongly muscled, 
and exhibiting: great driving power. The legs above the knees 
and hocks are long and distinctly muscled. The knee and hock 
joints are of medium size, clearly defined, and strongly supported. 
The cannons are short, deep, and clean cut, with tendons well 
detached. The pasterns are rather sloping, being carried at an 
angle of about 45 degrees. The feet are of medium size, wide, and 
high at the heel. The action is a very important feature and should 
be straight, free, and easy (Fig. 2). 
6. Famous Thoroughbred races. — With this breed races are 
run under the saddle. The rider or ‘“ jockey ”’ must be of light 
weight and skilful. Running events are looked upon with favor 
in England, where there are many famous race courses. The so-' 
called ‘ classics ” of the English turf are the St. Leger, established 
in 1776; the Epsom Oaks, first run in 1779; the Epsom Derby, 
established in 1780; the Two Thousand Guineas, first run in 
1809; and the One Thousand Guineas, established in 1814. 
Over each of these tracks many famous contests have been held 
and at the present time they are considered the center of English: 
social and sporting functions. . 
