The exterior of the horse . ant that tlie latter should be harmoniously proportioned tothe other parts of the body, and only by practice are we enabled to judgeof the characters which denote this harmony. Thus, it may be slenderor thick, two conformations intimately associated with an excess or a de-ficiency of its length. However, in stallions the neck acquires a develop-ment which must not be considered as a defect. The effect of castra-tion is a diminution of the thickness of this region to a notable extent. Length.—The length of the neck, which is measured from themiddle of the anterior bo
The exterior of the horse . ant that tlie latter should be harmoniously proportioned tothe other parts of the body, and only by practice are we enabled to judgeof the characters which denote this harmony. Thus, it may be slenderor thick, two conformations intimately associated with an excess or a de-ficiency of its length. However, in stallions the neck acquires a develop-ment which must not be considered as a defect. The effect of castra-tion is a diminution of the thickness of this region to a notable extent. Length.—The length of the neck, which is measured from themiddle of the anterior border of the shoulder to the anterior extremityof the transverse process of the atlas, is correlative to its volume, whichshould be neither excessive nor deficient, under penalty of destroyingthe usefulness of the animal. Let us see what happens when the cervical lever is lengthened orshortened on this or on that side of its normal dimensions. Let () inn and OCbe the relative directions of the shoulder and the neck ;. Fig. 33. let, on the other hand, 00, OA, and OB represent the lengths of theneck gradually decreasing. 1st. When the length is proportional, OA, it allows a sufficientextension in the movements of the siioulder and in the displacementof the centre of gravity ; the head is not too heavy on the bit, and thecervical trunk possesses sujipkness and a mean power of to this quality be added a good direction and a high carriage, wewill find the conditions most favorable for all ircucnil services. 104 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. The proper length of the neck cannot invariably be determinedmathematically, as Bourgelat has pretended Mhen he assigned to it thesame length as that of the head. Although this relation may be con-stant, we find some compensations correcting the errors in the onesense or the other, and altering the external beauty no more than theyinfluence the good qualities of the animal. We will return to this indiscussing the pt^oportions. 2d.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecthorses, bookyear1892
