LECTURES ON HORSES. 
T25 
disproportionate breadth and squareness, and great prominence of 
the hips, the quarters assume an ugly “ ragged” appearance. These 
broad and ragged quarters, providing the thighs and hocks are of 
strong make, in general possess great efficiency in action. Many 
of our best trotters, such as are known to be capable in this line of 
feats both of strength and action, will be found to have quarters of 
this description with extraordinary development of power in their 
thighs and hocks. A horse can hardly be made worse in these 
parts than to possess an extended narrow loin, rising in a line, 
rather concave than otherwise, from a dip in the back to the sum- 
mit of the rump, with buttocks drooping from this elevation, having 
flat or hollow surfaces, and yet being lengthy in their dimensions, 
with a tail set on as low down as it is possible for it to be. Such 
a horse will be light-carcassed, tucked up in the flanks after work, 
and, from want of power in his propelling agents, prove incapable 
of “ carrying weight” or “ getting through dirt,” or of dragging 
any thing in the shape of a load. 
The hind quarters being the agents of propulsion of the machine 
in action, durst we attempt to consider them apart from the fore 
limbs, or to institute any comparison between the two, we should 
certainly rank them in the highest place in our estimation ; i. e., for 
all purposes of work, a horse with “ good” hind quarters and “ bad” 
fore quarters ought, undoubtedly, to be preferred to one with the 
reverse qualifications : he would carry greater weight, draw a 
heavier load, and probably not so soon tire. But, perhaps, as was 
observed on a former occasion, the hind limbs would do too much 
for the fore in action, and the consequence would be — from the 
fore legs not being able to act in consort with them and to “ get 
out of their way” — falling down, forwards. Another evil might 
be, a most unpleasant jarring, stilty, falling-down sensation to the 
rider, amounting, perhaps, to a total unfitness for the saddle, and 
even incapacitating the horse for any thing but slow work in har- 
ness. After all, therefore, however efficient his “ good” hind quar- 
ters may render him, want of any thing like commensurate “ good- 
ness” in his fore ones would render his admirable qualities behind 
of little avail. In fine, we may and do, for certain purposes, such 
as light pleasure riding and driving, & c., make good fore-quartered 
horses very useful, although their hind parts are any thing but what 
we would desire them to be ; but, for the reasons stated, the re- 
verse conformation proves now and then such as to render the ani- 
mal totally worthless, unless it be, as I said before, to go a foot’s 
pace in a higgler’s or market-gardener’s cart. 
