352 THE USUAL LAMENESSES. 



This will be the proper place to introduce a bird's-eye view of some of the 

 principal lamenesses to which the fore extremities of the horse are subject. 



At a is a representation of the capped hock, or enlargement of the joint of 

 the elbow. 



6 is the tying-in of the leg below the knee. 



c is the most frequent situation of splint on the side of the shank-bone, and 

 not producing lameness after its first formation, because it does not interfere 

 with the motion of the knee, nor injure the suspensory ligament. 



d is the situation and appearance of the enlargement accompanying sprain of 

 the back sinews. This, however, is an aggravated case ; and the sprain may be 

 great, and the lameness distressing, without all this swelling. 



e is the place of wind-gall. 



/ gives the appearance of ringbone when it first appears on the side of the 

 pastern, about the joint, and where there is naturally some prominence of bone. 



g is the situation of sand-crack in the fore-leg. 



h the situation of mallenders. 



The fore-legs, when viewed in front, should be widest at the chest, and should 

 gradually approach to each other as we descend towards the fetlock. The 

 degree of width must depend on the purpose for which the horse is wanted. 

 The legs of a heavy draught-horse can scarcely be too far apart. His rounded 

 chest enables him to throw more weight into the collar; and not being 

 required for speed,* he wants not that occasionally increased expansion of 

 chest which the circular form is not calculated to give. A hunter, a hackney, 

 and a coach-horse should have sufficient expansion of the chest, or the legs 

 sufficiently wide apart, to leave room for the play of the lungs ; but depth more 

 than roundness of chest is here required, because the deep chest admits of most 

 expansion when the horse, in rapid action, and the circulation proportionally 

 quickened, needs most room to breathe : yet if the breast is too wide, there 

 will be considerable weight thrown before, and the horse will be heavy in hand 

 and unsafe. 



Whether the legs are near to each other or wide apart, they should be straight. 

 The elbow should not have the slightest inclination inward or outward. If it 

 inclines towards the ribs, its action will be confined, and the leg will be thrown 

 outward when in motion, and describe a curious and awkward curve. This 

 will give a peculiar rolling motion, unpleasant to the rider and unsafe to the 

 animal. The toe will likewise be turned outward, which will not only prevent 

 the foot from coming flat on the ground in its descent, but be usually accom- 

 panied by cutting, even more certainly than when the toe turns inward. If 

 the elbow is turned outward, the toes will necessarily be turned inward, which is 

 a great unsightliness, and to a considerable degree injurious, for the weight 

 cannot be perfectly distributed over the foot the bearing cannot be true. 

 There will also be undue pressure on the inner quarter, a tendency to unsafe- 

 ness, and a disposition to splint and corn. The legs should come down perpen- 

 dicularly from the elbow. If they incline backward and under the horse, there 

 fs undue stress on the extensor muscles : and, the legs being brought nearer the 

 centre of gravity, too great weight is thrown forward, and the horse is liable to 

 knuckle over and become unsafe. If the legs have a direction forward, the 

 flexor muscles are strained, and the action of the horse is awkward and 

 confined. The toe should be found precisely under the point of the shoulder. 

 If it is a little more forward, the horse will probably be deficient in action ; 

 if it is more under the horse, unsafeness will be added to still greater defect 

 iu going. 



