S STRUCTURES OF THE BODY. 



Other hand, if we observe that an animal which is in ''dealers 

 condition " is light of bone, we may, as a rule, conclude that 

 there is not very much muscle in the load of meat which 

 he carries. Among sound, good horses, ''Mr. Morton's" 

 Dalmeny was one of the lightest below the knee I have 

 ever seen ; but no exception could have been taken to him on 

 that account, for his legs had no superfluous weight to carry, 

 and his muscles were of the long slender type, which is 

 generally characteristic of the possession of speed. I need 

 hardly say that the bones and muscles of the limbs are not 

 always in keeping with those of the body ; for we daily see 

 instances of animals that are too heavily "topped'' for their 

 legs. 



Men of experience know that a horse should have plenty 

 of "bone" in order to be able to carry weight with ease to 

 himself for long distances and at comparatively fast paces — 

 as, for example, when hunting. If we take two horses that 

 can perform about equally well in a long run with a similar 

 welter weight up, one having the '^puU" in speed, the other 

 in bone and muscle, we shall usually find that the latter will 

 not feel the effects of the work so much as the former. I 

 may explain this on the reasonable supposition that the 

 weight-bearing muscles of the lighter-built horse, not being 

 so strong as those of the "heavier" animal, will naturally 

 become more fatigued. The objection sometimes advanced 

 against thoroughbreds for hunting, that they cannot "come 

 out again " as quickly as half-bred animals, is valid only when 

 the former are lighter built than the latter ; for, if blood 

 horses of equal bone and muscle were obtained, the difference 

 would be all the other way. 



Large muscles, as we have seen, require large bones. It 

 also goes without saying that the more are bones exposed to 

 the effects of concussion, the denser and stronger should they 

 be. Consequently, we may conclude that the lighter an 

 animaFs body is, in comparison to the strength of its com- 

 ponent parts and the amount of its muscular force, the 

 greater will be its powers of rapid progression. Hence we 



