CHIEF DUTIES OF THE FORE LIMB. 263 



Chief Duties of the Fore Limb are — (i) to support 

 weight ; (2) to resist the injurious effects of " work " 

 on its own structures ; (3) to preserve the stabihty of the 

 body ; (4) to propel the body forward or backward ; 

 and (5) to raise the fore-hand. 



To support weight, the horse requires bones and 

 muscles strong in proportion to the nature and amount of 

 work to be done ; a more or less straight condition of the 

 bones ; and a shoulder-blade sufficiently large for the 

 muscles which attach it to the trunk, and whose size 

 is a measure of their strength. The comparative straight- 

 ness of the column of bones will be largely affected by 

 considerations of propulsion and of the effect of work on 

 the legs. In all cases, the bones at the knee should be 

 straight. 



To resist the injurious effect of " work " on its struc- 

 tures, the bones of the shoulder and pastern (at each 

 respective end of the limb) should be placed obliquely, 

 if the ground be hard, so as to diminish the injurious 

 effects of concussion, which are seen in, for instance, 

 navicular disease, laminitis, ringbone, wind-galls, " sore 

 shins," and splints. The obliquity, however, will be 

 obtained at the expense of mechanical advantage. 

 Hence, the softer the ground and the slower the pace ; 

 the less sloping need the shoulder and pastern be, to 

 avoid the injurious effects of concussion. 



To preserve the stability of the body, we require sloping 

 shoulders and sloping pasterns, both of which aid in 

 raising the fore-hand. With sloping pasterns, the danger 

 of catching the ground with the toe is reduced ; for the 

 more oblique the pastern, the easier will it be for the 

 horse to bring his heel first on the ground at each step. 



To propel the body forward to the best advantage, 

 we require a humerus not much removed from a hori- 

 zontal position ; for the pushing force derived from the 

 fore limb takes place through that bone. Also, in pro- 



