Nevertheless, there is no general rule without exception, for we
now and then find a Horse to be a good racer, who has not this
declivity in his shoulders, but from a length in his thighs and
quarters has a sufficient share of speed. Add to this, there is
another advantage obtained to the Horse besides velocity by this
declivity of the shoulders, for his weight is removed farther
back, and placed more in the center of his body, by which an
equilibrium is acquired, and every muscle bears a more equal share
of weight and action; so that the nearer the articulation of the
quarters approach to the superior part of the shoulders, so much
the shorter will the back be, and as much more expanded as the
chest is, so much stronger will the animal be, and will also have
a larger space for the organs of respiration to exert themselves.
But I would not be understood to mean, that the shortness of the
back, or capacity of the chest, will constitute a racer; far from
it: but that in any given and proportioned length, from the bosom
of the Horse to the settting on of the dock, the nearer the
superior points of the shoulders approach to the quarters, so much
better able will the carcase be to sustain and bring through the
weight; and as much as the shoulders themselves prevail in depth,
and the quarters and thighs in length, so much greater will be the
velocity of the Horse, because a greater purchase of ground is
hereby obtained at every stroke.
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