THE EXTERNAL CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. 
423 
Horses so formed are invariably rough and stilty in the trot, and 
when it comes to the slow gallop they “go short” and get too 
tar away from the ground in the stride, which is so marked in 
some individuals that it approaches the bucking gait, and is very 
different from the elastic graceful movements of the horse with 
oblique shoulders. 
For heavy slow coach work the straight shoulder answers 
very well, but they are best adapted for draft purposes where the 
horse is seldom required to go off the walk; in this latter class 
the entire surface of the front of the shoulder will be flush against 
the posterior or draft surface of the collar, and when an animal 
so formed throws his weight into it (the collar), the creature will 
most likely feel comfortable and every effort to move the load 
will have, comparatively speaking, greater influence. It is not 
to be inferred from what has just been said that horses with 
oblique shoulders cannot pull and pull well; or that horses with 
straight shoulders cannot perform fairly well upon the road in 
light vehicles, but other things being equal they are best adapted 
to the uses assigned to them. Through for saddle purposes the 
parts must be oblique to modify or dispose of concussion. The 
space between the point of the shoulder and the elbow joint is 
sometimes called the arm. We do not know of any special style 
of conformation that needs description in this region as it is in¬ 
variably formed in an acceptable manner, but below the elbow 
joint the leg should be thoroughly examined, and first of all we 
have the forearm (Plate I, 30) to take into consideration. This 
should be formed of well developed hard muscles standing boldly 
out. The circumference of the arm as measured with the tape 
line is not a good guide to the merits of the creature, for two 
reasons, in the first place when we come to measure horses by 
the scores, we will find in some of them, that the pectoral 
muscles which are concerned largely in binding or attaching the 
fore leg to the body, are (some of them) attached to the inside of 
the fore leg, just about opposite the elbow joint, while in some 
individuals this attachment appears lower down; so much so, that 
it will be included in the tape line when measuring the part, and 
