814 VETERINARY HYGIENE 



saddle or harness injuries, it is now desirable to specialize, 

 and in the first place to deal with, 



Saddle Injuries. 



In order to form a correct appreciation of these it is 

 necessary to glance at the structure and function of the 

 back, without trenching too far on the field of anatomy and 

 physiology. 



A horse is not built for carrying weight ; a horizontal 

 spine is necessarily imperfect in this respect compared 

 with the vertical spine of man. Moreover, some of the 

 bones of a man's spine are not only relatively but actually 

 larger in their body than those of the horse. A man is 

 capable of carrying a weight which would crush a horse ; 

 further he can carry a weight, which he cannot possibly 

 lift, by adjusting it over his vertical spine. 



The horse, on the other hand, is adapted for dragging a 

 weight, which man is not, as the weight of a man's body is 

 small compared with his strength ; further the body cannot 

 be thrown far beyond the fulcrum at the feet, for which 

 reason it is unable to exercise the force which is necessary 

 for traction. 



We have previously dealt with the weight a horse should 

 carry, and in connection with this, his weak horizontal 

 spine should be remembered as the chief cause of his 

 defective weight-carrying power. 



Shape of Backs. — -All backs are not of the same shape, 

 there are some naturally weak (hollow backs), others 

 extremely strong (roach backs), and between these two 

 extreme conditions any variety may be met with. Some 

 are long and weak, others short and strong; some with 

 high razor- like withers, others with thick low withers ; some 

 are wide, others narrow ; the muscles on some backs stand 

 up full and firm, on others they are small, ill-developed 

 and soft. 



We need not be surprised at these differences ; horses' 

 backs vary in make, shape, size, and condition, as much as 



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