MUSCLES. 1 1 



muscles is useful only in making the work more easy, and 

 that it does not otherwise add to the speed. Massive 

 muscles, compared to slight ones, have two disadvantages, 

 namely — they add to the weight to be carried, both in muscle 

 and bone ; and they necessitate the possession of large 

 joints, which, from increased friction, are not so easily bent 

 and extended as smaller ones ; besides this, it has been 

 proved that they do not respond as quickly to nervous 

 stimulus. Although it is impossible to lay down any exact 

 rules on this subject, we may say, speaking generally, that the 

 thickness of muscle which would be commendable in a weight- 

 carrying hunter, would be quite out of place in a race-horse, 

 as we may see by comparing Fig. 288 with Fig. 289. We 

 may often observe that race-horses which were very smart 

 as two-year-olds, lose their - form " after that age without 

 any assignable reason except that as they '' thickened," they 

 got slow. I may remark that those speedy animals, the 

 cheetah, greyhound, and antelope, like the race-horse, are 

 comparatively narrow behind, and that the hind-quarters of 

 the cart-horse are very wide. The muscular development to be 

 sought for in the race-horse, in order to enable him to carry 

 weight (within racing limits) and to stay, should be obtained 

 with a minimum increase to the burden the animal has got to 

 move ; and is to be looked for chiefly in the loins, gaskins, 

 and fore arms, with great rotundity and comparative length 

 of the back ribs, and comparative thickness of bone just below 

 the hocks. In this respect, Ormonde, St. Gatien, Bendigo, 

 Isonomy, Barcaldine, and Carbine (the New Zealand son of 

 Musket), for example, were all muscular horses. St. Simon 

 (Fig. 9) was a notable example of a horse of the highest 

 class being of remarkably light build. He had, however, 

 marvellously good shoulders and loins. 



We know from experiment that muscles of the same 

 thickness are stronger in animals of one species than they 

 are in those of another kind ; and we may reasonably infer 

 that even among individual horses the same rule holds good. 

 In fact, we may take for granted that the *' quality'* of 



