1 68 THE TRUNK 



thin, high withers are objectionable; for they are liable 

 to become hurt by a saddle, especially by a side saddle. We 

 are all aware that when the part is of this shape, it is difficult 

 to keep the "gullet-plate" of the saddle from touching it, 

 however high this iron arch may be ; the reason being, as far 

 as I can see, that such a condition is usually associated, as 

 might be expected, with emaciation of the neighbouring 

 muscles ; among the rest, that which gives rise to the pro- 

 minence (''saddle muscle,'' see p. 183) behind the shoulder 

 blade, and behind which the ** points'' of the tree of the 

 saddle should rest. When the part is thus unduly flat, the 

 saddle is naturally liable to slip forward. Also, with horses 

 which have thick withers it is often difficult to keep the 

 saddle in its place ; for the presence of large shoulder muscles 

 and abundance of connective tissue conceal the outline of the 

 shoulder blades and render the part, upon which the points 

 of the tree rest, smooth and flat. 



*' Age and sex have an equal influence on the leanness of 

 withers, which, badly defined in the colt, come well out only 

 towards five or six years old, at the time when the bones 

 have attained their full length, and the body its definite size. 

 The withers are less high in the mare than in the geldmg or 

 entire. As a set off, the last mentioned, whose fore hand 

 acquires a considerable development, has this part thicker, 

 especially in the case of a heavy draught animal " {Goubanx 

 and Barrier). 



As the comparative leanness or thickness of withers 

 greatly depends on the size of the muscles of the shoulders, I 

 shall defer the further discussion of this subject until treating 

 on the form and function of the shoulders (p. 182, et seq). 



Breast — The conformation of the breast has reference 

 almost solely to the comparative width between the fore legs, 

 which *' is generally looked upon as a measure of the size of 

 the chest, or, rather, of its rotundity. This is an error which 

 we have cleared away by more than fifty observations made 

 on the living animal, and afterwards completed on the dead 



