FORE ARM. 



279 



being sloping^ will enable him to " take off " more 

 ^^ cleverly " at any obstacle than he could do^ were they 

 upright. 



The term "good shoulders" or "bad shoulders" is 

 nearly always a comparative one ; for shoulders which 

 would be very bad in one type of horse, might be very 

 good in another type. 



The Humerus. — The position and form of this bone, 

 which lies between the shoulder joint and elbow, are so 

 hidden by the muscles about it, that it is difticult to form 

 a correct opinion as to its conformation. Even if it were 

 exposed to view as much as is the fore-arm, I cannot 

 see how the fact of its being so, would greatly help us. 

 We know that forward propulsion given by the fore limb 

 must take place through it ; but we cannot exactly deter- 

 mine its best direction for purposes of progression. We 

 are aware that the different paces of the horse require, 

 in varying proportions, the direction of the propulsion 

 to be both upward and forward ; but we cannot tell what 

 these proportions should be. It is evident that the heavy 

 cart-horse, which requires all the aid he can obtain from 

 his fore limbs to propel him forward, should not have 

 an upright humerus. It appears probable that the angle 

 which the shoulder-blade makes with the humerus, 

 varies but little in different horses, in which case, the 

 more oblique the shoulder-blade, the more upright the 

 humerus ; and vice versa. Consequently, by observing the 

 slope of the shoulder, we might estimate that of the 

 humerus. 



Elbow. — The point of the elbow should be capable 

 of being drawn well away from the side. It will then have 

 plenty of freedom, and will not be tied down to the chest. 



Fore-Arm. — This part in all horses should be muscu- 

 lar ; as its muscles have to do all the work of the limb 



