188 
LECTURES ON HORSES. 
unfit for every purpose where strength and endurance, or hard work, 
is required. Any extra exertion will take him off his feed ; and, 
in addition, he is very likely to evince a timid, nervous, or fidgetty 
temper. A horse of this description may answer for the park or 
promenade, and be, with a rider who is not disconcerted or annoyed 
by his temper, even a favourite, though for real service or work he 
is next to valueless. We should, however, take care to make a 
distinction between a light-carcassed horse whose chest is deep, and ' 
so far good, and one that has neither chest nor belly to boast of; 
but, “ without middle piece,” appears all legs. The former may 
be a good feeder, and, should he possess this property, will perhaps, 
in spite of his lightness of belly, turn out to possess some stamina ; 
the latter never can be worth any thing. Indeed, when there is 
good depth of chest, as regards speed in galloping — for racing — 
this greyhound form of body appears advantageous, not only from 
the circumstance of the animal having less burthen to carry, but 
because, with the length and looseness of loin with which it is 
commonly associated, it adds to the facility and extent of the stride, 
allowing of the fuller accomplishment of that projection of the 
hind legs which tells so much in galloping progression. On the 
other hand, a horse that is wanted not more for speed than endur- 
ance, for heavy and hard hunting, or for any purpose of strength or 
endurance, must not possess this receding carcass and looseness of 
loin : he must be well ribbed up, and short in his flanks, and let 
down in his belly ; must, to use the dealers well-known phrases, 
possess “ a good bread-basket,” and look “ as if he always carried 
his dinner with him.” A horse so made, indeed, can hardly ever 
appear tucked up : the muscles forming the flanks are too short to 
contract much, and the ribs are too near the hips to admit of much 
compression of the bowels. After a long and fatiguing day with 
hounds, a horse with loose flanks and loins will appear as though 
he were “ cut in two,” as the saying goes : whereas, a horse well 
ribbed up, will hardly, after the same, shew any signs of work. 
What is understood by the phrase “ constitution,” under which is 
comprehended the power of standing work and of “ coming again,” 
or performing a great deal in a given time, cannot exist in any 
horse devoid or defective of middle piece. 
