Excerpt from The Horse, Its Treatment in Health and Disease, Vol. 8: With a Complete Guide to Breeding, Training and Management The paces of the horse cannot well be understood without reference to the means by which locomotion is brought about. In the anatomical portion of this work frequent reference will be found to the origin and insertion of muscles, and the attachments of tendons and ligaments. Attention is called to the fixed points upon which muscles act by the shortening of their body or belly. The stimulus of the will or other agents put in action a force which causes a contraction of muscular fibre, resulting in approximation of the fixed points of origin and insertion. A familiar example of this action is seen when the human biceps, by its bellying or contraction, changes the contour of the limb and brings the hand to the point of the Shoulder. The horse may be viewed as a living mechanism, a series of pulleys and levers attached to bones, and having the ground for a fulcrum. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.