. The horse in the stable and the field : his management in health and disease. r light, quick draught, a formation intermediate between the twois the proper one; the large frame of the cart-horse being too heavyfor the legs to bear at a fast pace, and leading to their rapid de-struction in trotting over our-modern hard roads. The capacityof the lungs is marked by the size of the chest at the girth; butthe stamina will depend upon the depth of the back ribs, whichshould be especially attended to. A SHORT BACK, with plenty of ground covered nevertheless, isthe desideratum of every pract
. The horse in the stable and the field : his management in health and disease. r light, quick draught, a formation intermediate between the twois the proper one; the large frame of the cart-horse being too heavyfor the legs to bear at a fast pace, and leading to their rapid de-struction in trotting over our-modern hard roads. The capacityof the lungs is marked by the size of the chest at the girth; butthe stamina will depend upon the depth of the back ribs, whichshould be especially attended to. A SHORT BACK, with plenty of ground covered nevertheless, isthe desideratum of every practised horseman. Unless the mea-surement from the shoulder point to the back of the quarters issomewhat greater than the height at the withers, the action isconfined, especially in the gallop, for the hind legs cannot bebrought sufficiently forward on account of the interference of thefore-quarter; and, indeed, from the want of play in the back, theyare generally too much crippled in that respect. A horse shortabove and long below is the perfection of shape in this POINTS OF THE HORSE. 25 but he is not very commonly met with. Where length below isseen, there is generally too much space between the last rib andthe hip, while, on the other hand, covxpled with a short back, wetoo often see the legs all jumped up together, and the actionshort and stumpy. Next to these points in the middlepiece it isimportant to pay attention to the upper line of the back, whichshould bend down a little behind the withers, and then swell outvery gently to the junction with the loins, which can hardly betoo wide and muscular. The inexperienced eye will often bedeceived by the hips, for if these are narrow the muscles rise abovethem, and make the loin and back lotjk stronger than they reallyare, the contrary being the case where the hips are wide andragged. This latter formation, though not so elegant as the levelhip, is j)rized by the man who wishes to be carried well to hounds,and he will
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectch, booksubjecthorses
