THE SHOULDER. 185 



their work. As far as mere speed goes, great obliquity of 

 shoulder appears to be no advantage. As the weight is 

 brought more forward by the shoulders being upright^ than 

 if they were sloping, the former condition, by increasing 

 the instability of the equilibrium (p. 54), is equally, or 

 even perhaps more conducive to speed than the latter. 

 It also, by tending to bring the humerus into a more 

 horizontal position, places that bone in a more advan- 

 tageous direction for forward propulsion than it would 

 have with an oblique shoulder ; because the impetus given 

 to the fore hand in progression to the front, takes place 

 through that bone. Those particularly speedy animals, 

 antelope and deer, have, I may mention, comparatively 

 straight shoulders. Many of our fastest race-horses have 

 been built in this way. It is not, however, sufficient for a 

 horse to have the great gift of speed in order to shine on 

 the turf; but he must also be able to "stand training," 

 which will more or less severely test the durability of the 

 bones, ligaments and tendons of the legs, and especially of 

 his fore ones. Both in training and in racing, the animal 

 has to carry a rider, whose weight will add materially to 

 the ''wear" of the fore legs, the jar on which will be far 

 less when the shoulders are oblique than when they are 

 comparatively upright. 



Important as obliquity of the shoulders is in the race- 

 horse, it is not nearly so much so as lightness of that part ; 

 for heaviness of the fore hand not alone throws increased 

 strain on the fore legs, but also detracts from spe^d. We 

 have three | simple and practical guides by which we may 

 judge of the lightness or heaviness of the shoulders : (i) 

 by the manner in which the neck runs into the shoulders. 

 If we observe that at their point of union there exists a 

 marked depression (p. 183), we may with reason con- 

 clude that the animal, being furnished with a good surface 

 for the collar, was evolved for draft rather than for speed. 

 Here we must not be led astray by the appearance of any 

 undue thickness of the neck muscles which may fill up 



