28 PURCHASING FROM THE STABLES. 



THE KNEE, AND BACK SINEWS, AND SUSPENSORY 

 LIGAMENT. THE SHANK-BONE, FETLOCKS, ETC. 



The knee must be broad and flat : the upper 

 inner part should present a striking width, or 

 it will look round, which is ugly, and does not 

 betoken strength. If there is the slightest bony 

 excrescence in front, it may interfere materially 

 with his running, and which firing and blistering 

 will often fail to remove ; and if there is any 

 puffy swelling, it is worse than the bog- spavin. 

 The hinder bone of the knee cannot be too large, 

 so that the leg may not be tied in, that is, that 

 the back sinews may be wide away from the 

 shank bone ; and these back sinews should feel 

 smooth, strong, and well braced, like a piece 

 of catgut tightly covered with fawnskin. The 

 back sinews cannot always be told by the feel ; 

 they must be carefully inspected at each side, 

 for sometimes, while they feel smooth, strong, 

 and wiry, there will be an evident difference 

 in the size about the centre ; a very slight bow — 

 a sure sign of having been injured. The sus- 

 pensory ligament, the centre rope, must also 

 feel and look, like the back sinews, fine and 

 wiry. There is, however, a distinction between 

 smallness immediately below- the knee, and that 



