110 WARRANTY OF 



good ; for a horse may be quite upright in the joints of 

 the hind-legs, and yet be perfectly SOUND. 



A horse in this case is almost invariably as well able 

 as any other to do his work : for it must be observed 

 that nature often makes these joints much more upright 

 than those of the fore-legs, because in the latter a 

 greater degree of elasticity is required to break con- 

 cussion, as there is greater weight borne by them than 

 by the hind ones. The rest of the fore-leg is, of 

 necessity, of a pillar-like form, to enable it to support 

 the weight of the fore-quarters in action, as well as the 

 additional weight and concussion produced by the pro- 

 peller-like motion of the hind-legs, and, therefore, the 

 fore-leg is possessed of little or no spring appliances 

 beyond what are contained in the pastern and foot. 



The loss of even the slightest spring which is con- 

 ducive to the prevention of concussion is, evidently, a 

 serious matter ; how much more serious must be the 

 deprivation of this, the largest and most important 

 spring of all. 



As the hind-legs have not the weight of the head and 

 neck to support, they are not required to be upright or 

 column-like. For their function is the propelling 

 of the body ; and, with a view to effecting this with 

 speed, they are of necessity longer than the fore ones. 



I think it is needless for me to enter into reasons 

 further than to say that, for the convenience of the 



