a2 TOK HORSE. 
to it have not sufficient leverage ; while if it is very ragged and prominent, 
it is a mark of diseased or excessive growth of bone, and is generaily 
attended with a stiffness of the part. Indeed, in examining a shoulders 
blade, freedom of action is to be regarded much more than its exact 
position when at rest; for if you have the desired effect, it matters not 
(except for breeding purposes) whether it is exceptional or not ; and, as a 
matter of course, it is better to have a freely-playing shoulder which 
when at rest is too upright than a perfectly formed one confined to its place, 
as we sometimes see it. The oblique shoulder-blade is specially required 
in all horses which come down upon their fore legs after a spring, whether 
this is in the gallop, or the leap, or the trot, for the use of it is by its 
elasticity to break the jar which is thereby occasioned. The upright form 
is stronger, as the weight is placed more directly over the column which 
bears it, but it allows of less elasticity under the sudden shock given by 
the impetus of the body as it approaches the earth, and for this reason is 
only suited to the slow work of the cart-horse, or heavy machiner. In 
conjunction with the oblique, and therefore long blade, is always found a 
long true arm, which is sometimes so extended backward as to place the 
elbow absolutely in the way of the girths, and then perhaps may be con- 
sidered as too long, especially as it throws the weight of the fore-quarter 
much in front of the fore legs, and tends to make the horse possessing 
it somewhat unsafe unless his action is particularly free. ‘This part also 
should be well clothed with muscles. 
THE FORE ARM OR ARM, as it is generally called, is not remarkable 
for any great peculiarities, ‘but it is somewhat larger i in proportion to the 
cannon bone than in other breeds. 
THE KNEE is broad and deep, from before backwards, and the leg below 
the knee is peculiarly free from that contraction or “ tying in” which in the 
cart-horse and allied breeds is so objectionable, being an element of weak- 
ness when the joint is exposed to the strains incidental to fast work of any 
kind. So also a bending backwards of the joint called the “calf-knee,” 
common in the cart-horse, is condemned in the race-horse for the same 
reason. 
THE BONE OF THE LEG both in the fore and hind-quarter is small, but of 
compact substance, while the suspensory ligament and back sinew are so 
large, and stand out so freely, as to appear to form quite one-half of the 
leg. The fetlock joints are clean and of good size, the pasterns long and 
elastic, and the feet though small as compared with other breeds, yet large 
enough for the weight they have to carry, their horny covering being also 
tough and compact. 
IN THE HIND-QUARTER the Eastern horse and his descendants excel all 
others in symmetry and in the length of the various parts composing it. 
Comparing the cart-horse with the subject of the present investigation, one 
is struck with the greatly increased length of the thighs of the latter, 
approaching almost to the proportions of the greyhound. In the cart- 
horse, when walking, the stifle joint can hardly be seen, while in the race- 
horse it is brought out prominently at every step. This gives the stride 
necessary for pace, and the fast strain of blood known as that of Selim, and 
his brothers Castrel and Rubens, possesses this peculiarity in a marked 
manner, though from the high position of the stifle in them, and their 
straight hocks, many people lose sight of this peculiarity. With regard 
to the hocks of a racehorse, they should be of full size, clean, and as a matter 
of course, free from curbs or spavins. They are also generally considered 
to require very long points, that is to say, the projecting lever to 
