284 THE FORE LIMB. 



wanting in substance, and consequently unduly weak. I 

 have always remarked that, in legs of about the same 

 size of cannon-bone, when the back tendons approached 

 a direction parallel to the cannon-bone (as in Figs. 356 

 to 362, and 369), they were larger and consequently 

 stronger than those which were tied-in (as in Figs. 365 

 and 366). The parallelism of the back tendons with the 

 cannon-bone is beautifully shown in Fig. 362. which 

 represents the fore legs of a thorough-bred yearling 

 filly. We should regard a large degree of backward 

 projection in the pisiform as a desirable " point " ; 

 not merely as indicating the size of the bone itself, but 

 also that of the other bones of the knee. The pisiform 

 is well developed in Figs. 356, 357, 358, 360, 361, 362, and 

 many of the other photographs in this book ; and poorly, 

 in Fig. 364. 



The objectionable tying-in of the knee, which we may 

 see in Figs. 365, 366, and 367, is I believe, due in almost 

 all cases to an admixture of more or less cart blood. 

 Although individuals of other breeds may be light below 

 the knee, I have never seen in them this fault emphasised 

 by undue width of pastern (from front to rear), in the 

 same manner as it is in many of our draught-horses. 

 It is not present in the particularly good legs of the cart 

 mare shown in Fig. 369. Experience tells us that a leg 

 which shows the form of tying-in below the knee to which 

 I allude, is altogether unfit for fast work, or for jumping, 

 and is unobjectionable only for labour which does not 

 require the animal 'to go quicker than a slow trot. The 

 reason for this is, as far as I can see, that a large 

 fetlock is characteristic of cart blood, and consequently 

 indicates that the bones of the part are unfitted for 

 work at fast paces. During the evolution of the horse, 

 the size of his fetlock has diminished by the dis- 

 appearance of the digits of his present splint bones. 

 Hence, it is reasonable to suppose that a horse with 

 relatively large fetlocks is of an older type than one whose 



