l59l 



nearer together than those made by parallel 

 shoes, and two inches nearer together than those 

 made by shoes raised on the outer quarter. And 

 this may be thus explained : when the horse is 

 at rest, the weight is supported equally by the 

 two fore feet, but the instant one foot quits the 

 ground, the weight is suddenly transferred to 

 the other ; and by the outer quarter being lower 

 than the opposite one, the fore part of the horse 

 has a tendency to fall over to the outside. To 

 prevent this, the moving foot is suddenly brought 

 close to the fetlock of the supporting foot, in 

 order to relieve it by catching the weight, and 

 the foot itself is placed on the ground, too much 

 under the middle of the breast. The same cir- 

 cumstance occurs to both feet in their turn. 

 And the horse being thus in constant danger of 

 fallino- to one side or to the other, is constrained 



o 



to brincr his feet near together to preserve his 

 balance, and in doing this, strikes the foot 

 acrainst the opposite fetlock. 



It frequently happens, that the more the toes 

 are turned outwards, the nearer the fedock joints 

 are brought together, and the more the horse is 

 disposed to cut. However, this is true only to a 

 certain extent ; for if this faulty position of the 

 lower part of the leg be carried artificially beyond 



