CHEST AND RIBS. 163 



served by satisfying ourselves whether or not the horse under 

 examination is '' well-ribbed up." If the last rib be short, flat, 

 and but little inclined to the rear, the animal will be *' slack 

 in the loins," and most certainly will not have as good 

 breathing power as he would have had if that rib had been 

 long, ''springing" well out from the side, and inclined so 

 much to the rear, that there would be space only for the ends 

 of two or three fingers between it and the point of the hip. 

 Such a desirable shape would give the utmost width of base 

 to the diaphragm, which is a very important muscle of 

 breathing. Although I mention in this connection only the 

 last rib, I take for granted that its neighbouring ribs would 

 conform, more or less, to its length, shape and inclination to 

 the rear. From the foregoing considerations, I would regard 

 roundness of barrel behind the girths ; depth of body (as 

 compared to length of body) in the centre of the back ; and 

 being well ribbed up, as the great signs in conformation, 

 of a horse having good breathing power. As "■ the middle 

 false ribs are those which have the greatest power of being 

 drawn forwards and outwards" (p. 29), they, in comparison 

 to the length of the body, should be as long, as well as 

 convex, as possible. On account of their lower ends being 

 difficult* to trace in the living animal, we may conveniently 

 judge of their approximate lengths, by the depth of the body 

 at the centre of the back, making due allowance for the 

 ''condition" of the animal. If we examine the Frontispiece 

 and Fig. 268, which show three horses in training for 

 racing, we shall notice that the back ribs of both Ormonde 

 and Cloister were of good length, thus indicating fine 

 breathing power; and that those of the '*weed" were 

 unusually short. As might have been expected, this mare, 

 though fast, was a very poor stayer. I need hardly say that 

 the shape of the body should be judged by the body itself, 

 and without reference to the length or substance of the legs. 

 The fact, as often occurs, of the body being too heavy for 

 the legs, in no way affects the proportion which its length, 

 depth and thickness bear to each other. The popular term, 



M 2 



