2o8 THE HIND LIMB, 



correctness of this theory is borne out by the fact that in 

 Ireland hunting men h'ke a hunter to have a drooping pelvis , 

 because, so they say, this shape is generally associated with 

 cleverness in jumping. Although high-class chasers generally 

 have the pelvis fairly sloped ; they are rarely goose-rumped, 

 with an exception now and then, like Soarer. 



From a galloping point of view, a drooping pelvis is 

 a serious defect; for its existence implies that the back- 

 ward sweep of the hind leg is proportionately curtailed, and 

 consequently the compass of the stride is more or less 

 cramped. Also, on account of the point of the buttock being 

 depressed, the muscles (the tsckio tibial) which are attached 

 to it and to the head of the tibia, and which aid in the ex- 

 tension of the hip-joint, will be unduly shortened in length. 

 To have the point of the buttock placed high and projecting 

 well to the rear is a great beauty, which may be seen in some 

 thoroughbreds and high-caste Arabs. I may state that this 

 kind of conformation is found in a high state of perfection 

 in the hare, in which animal the pelvis is not alone more or 

 less horizontally placed ; but the portion of it (the ischium) 

 that is behind the cavity in which the head of the hip-bone 

 works, is much longer in proportion to the remainder of the 

 pelvis than it is in the horse. 



A horse with unusually drooping quarters, as in Fig. 280, 

 is said to be *' goose-rumped." 



The prominence which some horses show in the middle of 

 the croup (Fig. 235), is due to the large development of the 

 inner angle (posterior iliac spine. Fig. 12) of the pelvis (at 

 each side), and points to the presence, in the part, of strong 

 muscles. Cloister (Frontispiece) and St.^ Gatien have this 

 prominence well marked. This peculiarity indicates gfreat 

 length of pelvis, which is a ve:^ desi«ble jiint in the hunter 

 and chaser, in both of which, as we have already seen 

 (p. 184), a long shoulder-blade is essential. As the pelvis in 

 the hind limb is the analogue of the shoulder-blade of the 

 fore limb ; it follows that these two bones should be of 

 proportionate length. 



