Page:The Horse.djvu/266

258 There is yet another advantage of the oblique shoulder. The point of the shoulder is projected forward; and therefore the pillars which support the fore-part of the horse are likewise placed proportionably forward, and they have less weight to carry. They are exposed to less concussion, and especially concussion in rapid action. The horse is also much safer; for having less weight situated before the pillars of support, he is not so likely to have the centre of gravity thrown before and beyond them by an accidental trip; or, in other words, he is not so likely to fall; and he rides more pleasantly, for there is far less weight bearing on the hand of the rider, and annoying and tiring him. It likewise unfortunately happens that nature, as it were to supply the deficiency of action and of power in an upright shoulder, has accumulated on it more muscle, and therefore the upright shoulder is proverbially thick and cloddy; and the muscles of the breast which were designed to strengthen the attachment of the shoulders to the chest, and to bind them together, must, when the point of the shoulder lies backward, and under the horse, be proportionably thickened and strengthened, and the horse is thus still more heavy before, more unpleasant, and more unsafe to ride.

Then, ought every horse to have an oblique shoulder? No! The question has relation to those horses that are designed to ride pleasantly, or from which extensive and rapid action is required. In them it has been said that an oblique shoulder is indispensable: but there are others which are seldom ridden; whose pace is slow, and who have nothing to do but to throw as much weight as possible into the collar. To them an upright shoulder is an advantage, because its additional thickness gives them additional weight to throw into the collar, which the power of their hinder quarters is fully sufficient to accomplish; and because the upright position of the shoulder gives that direction to the collar which enables the horse to act upon every part of it, and that inclination of the traces which will enable his weight or power to be most advantageously employed.

An improved breed of our heavy draught-horses has of late years been attempted, and with much success. Sufficient uprightness of shoulder is retained for the purposes of draught, while a slight degree of obliquity has materially quickened the pace and improved the appearance.

Above its junction with the humerus, or lower division of the limb, the shoulder-blade forms what is called the point of the shoulder. There is a round blunted projection, best seen in the cut (p. 256). The neck of the shoulder-blade there forms a shallow cavity, into which the head of the next bone is received.

The cavity is shallow because extensive motion is required, and because both of the bones being so moveable, and the motion of the one connected so much with that of the other, dislocation was less likely to occur. A capsular ligament, or one extending round the heads of both bones, confines them securely together.

This joint is rarely or never dislocated; and, should it suffer dislocation, the muscles of the shoulder-blade and the lower bone of the shoulder are so strong, that the reduction of it would be impossible. The point of the shoulder, however, projecting considerably, is much exposed to injury from accident or violence. Even turning in a narrow stall has inflicted a serious bruise. Fomentations of warm water will usually remove the tenderness and lameness, but should they fail, blood should be taken from the plate vein, or, in very obstinate cases, a blister should be resorted to.

A description of the principal muscles of the shoulder-blade, their situation, attachments, and use, may not be uninteresting to the lover of the horse, and may guide his judgment as to the capability and proper form of that noble animal.

a and b, in the following cut, represent a portion of the Trapezius muscle attached to the longer bones of the withers broadly and strongly and to the ligament and fasciæ of the neck (a portion of which is seen at b), narrowing below, terminating almost in a point, and inserted into a tubercle on the spine or ridge of the shoulder-blade. It occupies the space between the withers and the upper part of the shoulder-blade, and is large and strong in proportion to the height of the withers, and the slanting of the shoulder. Its use is evidently to elevate and support the scapula—to raise it, and likewise to draw it backward; therefore, constituting one of the most important muscles connected with the action of the horse, and illustrating the advantage of high withers and a slanting shoulder. A portion of it is represented as turned back, in