140 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Every one the least a ju(l;:e of horses can tell of the advantage of 

 having them short below the knee, and is ready to despise as mis- 

 shnpen any one that has the reverse defect. But there seemed few 

 (hereabout at least) Avho had got so far as the consecutive idea, 

 namely, that to cultivate an additional inch of unnecessary toe, was 

 just the same as to put that much to tlie length of the bone below 

 the knee, in fact for the horse, worse, as the addition is made at the 

 point of greatest disadvantage. 



In the hind leg, though the functions of the part he different, the 

 effects of a long toe are equally an evil, if any difference, worse. 

 The main use of the hind leg is the propulsion of the body forward, 

 and when hauling of the load also. In effecting this the leg from 

 the hock to the ground is a lever also of the second class. The 

 power is the muscles whose tendons are inserted into the point of the 

 hock, the resistance is concentrated in the tibia or bone of the leg, 

 where it forms the hock joint, and the fixed point of the lever is the 

 point of the toe upon the ground. From this it is plain on the sim- 

 plest mechanical evidence, that anything added to the length of the 

 toe, is so much" leverage placed against the animal's power of haul- 

 ing, and consequently that he must either do less work, or else exert 

 himself more in the doing of it. 



Mechanical disadvantage to the horse in the performance of his 

 work however, is but one of the evils following the long toes that 

 "were then so common in this country. Another equally great, often 

 arises when the animal is standing at rest. 



Every one knows what is meant by a horse being "sprung in the 

 knees." For the information of those who are curious to know liow 

 this condition is produced, I will explain one of its causes. The 

 bones of the foot and pastern of the horse do not stand perpendicu- 

 larly above each other, but slope backwards, a considerable portion 

 of the animal's weight resting on the tendons that pass down the 

 back of the leg, and hence the greater the slope, the more the strain 

 the tendons have to bear. If we put a horse to stand with his head 

 up hill, more exertion is needed to sustain himself than if standing 

 on a level. The reason is, that the bones of the foot and pastern are 

 thereby placed more obliquely, and more of his weight is thrown 

 upon the tendons and muscles, and thus a -wearied horse, if left to 

 himself, always feeds with his head down hill. But we add to the 



