Requisites of Perfect Ba la nee i o 7 



adjustment is not so great; but unless the frontal line is well defined 

 and closely follows bar of gauge, there is likely to be a difference 

 between opposite feet, which may account for an irregularity of gait. 

 The bulging coronet, and the dished toe, is the most annoying combi- 

 nation, as at A, which can only be averaged up by front line of gauge. 



The range of angles for front feet is from 45 to 52 and for hind 

 feet from 48 to 55. In the natural state, the hind foot is generally 

 steeper than the fore foot, just as the hind pastern is generally steeper 

 than the fore pastern. The direction of the pastern is recommended as 

 the indication for direction of frontal line of hoof. This direction of 

 pastern continued on hoof to ground seems to present the most natural 

 leverage for leg at toe. As a rule, the fore feet should have same angle 

 with regard to each other, and so, likewise, the hind feet. 



Right here a few remarks about "pointing" will illustrate its prac- 

 tical application. If we have the near fore at 49 , and the off fore at 



FIG. 8/ 



51, their relative extensions can be presented, as in Fig. 81, where 

 C D the near fore extends farther forward but correspondingly less 

 backward than off fore, A B ; both moving in the direction from B to A 

 and from D to C. 



Photography has shown and the tracks on ground testify to the 

 same fact that the heel of the stiffly extended leg is the first to strike 

 the ground. It, therefore, seems reasonable to suppose that the lower 

 the angle that is, the lower the heels the greater the forward ex- 

 tension ; and because the heel leaves the ground first, or before the toe, 

 it is evident that the less the angle of the foot, or the lower the heel, the 

 less will be its backward extension. So that with these two feet of 

 different angles, we find a greater pointing forward by C D or near 

 fore, which has the lesser angle. In both these cases it is presumed 

 that length of toe is the same. 



