240 BLOOD, SYMMETRY AND COMPENSATIONS. 



Undue lightness of neck — Full mane ; light head, small 

 ears, sloping and flat shoulders. 



Heavy neck and loaded shoulders may be corrected to 

 some extent, from a beauty point of view, by a good-looking, 

 intelligent head, nice crest, and light mane. From considera- 

 tions of utility^ we should have the shoulders and pasterns 

 sloping ; the bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the 

 fore limb below the shoulder strong ; feet good ; and loins 

 and hind-quarters powerful. For cross-country work strong, 

 sloping fore pasterns are the best compensation for shoulders 

 that are upright and heavy. 



Fore legs below the elbows too light ; Pasterns too upright, 

 or too oblique. — Legs otherwise well-shaped ; light fore hand ; 

 sloping shoulders ; and good loins. 



** Calf knees ^'' or ^'over at the knees J' — Strength of leg below 

 the elbow ; parallelism of back tendons with cannon-bones 

 (p. 194) ; sloping shoulders ; light fore hand ; strong loins. 



Ribs ''flat-sidedr — Good depth of body at lowest point 

 of back ; flanks well ribbed-up. 



Too hollow in the back. —Light fore hand, sloping shoulders, 

 and in all cases, broad, powerful loins, which is the special 

 kind of compensation in this instance. 



Loins too light^ and flanks badly ribbed-up. — Light fore 

 hand ; shoulders and pasterns oblique ; light abdomen ; 

 well-rounded barrel ; strong hind-quarters ; good gaskins ; 

 ** straight-dropped" hind legs. 



Hind-quarters too light, — Light fore hand ; shoulders and 

 pasterns oblique ; light, but well-rounded barrel ; muscular 

 loins; good gaskins; ** straight-dropped'' hind legs. 



'' Sickle hocks!'— ^ixh. this defect in a saddle-horse which 

 would be required for fast work, it would be well for him 

 to have good length of hind legs, the possession of which 

 will presuppose that of a horizontal pelvis ; and the com- 

 pensations mentioned in the preceding paragraph, with 

 the exception of *' straight-dropped " hind legs, which is 

 the opposite kind of conformation to that which we are 

 considering. 



