.

[Illustration: Fig. 148.--Measurements of horse.]

The _belly_, or _abdomen_ (15), is the underneath portion of the body of
the horse which is not covered by bone.

The _point of the buttock_ (_O_) is the rearmost point of the pelvis.

_The dock_ (_R_) is the solid part of the tail.

The _height of a horse_ (_A B_, Fig. 148) is the vertical distance of
the highest point of his withers from the ground, when he is standing
with his fore legs nearly vertical and with the points of his hocks in a
vertical line with the points of his buttocks. I have qualified
"vertical" by "nearly" when referring to the fore legs; for when the
hind legs are placed as in Fig. 147, the weight of the head and neck,
which are in front of the fore legs, would cause the animal to stand
somewhat "over." When a pony is being measured for polo or racing, his
legs should be placed in the position I have described, although his
head may be lowered until his crest is parallel with the ground.

The _length of the body of a horse_ (_D E_, Fig. 148), may be assumed as
the horizontal distance from the front of the chest to a line dropped
vertically from the point of the buttock. This measurement is a somewhat
arbitrary one, but it is probably the best for the purpose. French
writers generally take the length of a horse as the distance from the
point of the shoulder to the point of the buttock. As this is not a
horizontal measurement, I prefer to it the one just given.

The _depth of the chest at the withers_ (_A C_, Fig. 148) is the
vertical distance from the top of the withers to the bottom of the
chest. This measurement being taken for convenience sake is an arbitrary
one, because the chest is lower between the fore legs than behind the
elbow, which is the spot I have selected. Besides, the actual height
of the withers above the roof of the chest, has no fixed relation to the
depth of the chest.

_Depth of the body_ (_F G_, Fig. 148). The best and most uniform point
to take this is, I think, the lowest point of the back.

_Height at the croup_ (_H I_, Fig. 148) is measured from the highest
point of the hind quarters.

INDEX.

Abdomen, 471.

Accidents, 5.

Across country, riding, 219.

Age to begin, 4.

Agricultural Hall, 167, 335.

Alderson, Colonel, 310.

Allen, Mr. John, 33.

Angles of lower jaw, 468.

Ann of Bohemia, 430.

Apron skirts, 96.

Arabs, 17, 18, 424.

Argentine horses, 457.