ABSTRACT
The similarity between cattle, sheep, and horses is very pronounced and the factors that affect the growth and development of the three species are identical. The two basic tissues of bone and muscle are always present in the general pattern. This constancy of structure or organization of tissues is of great value in the evaluation of cattle both alive and dead. All cattle, sheep, and horses are made according to the general plan or design. Their skeletons are composed of the same number of bones, and the general shape of each bone is the same in all three species. Most people measure frame size by measuring height at the withers and/or hips in cattle and sheep or hands at the withers in horses. The implication is that all small-framed cattle are wasty and fat and that all large-framed cattle are trim and desirable. All mammals have essentially the same skeleton and the same muscles attached to the skeleton.
