POSITION OF THE LEGS. 37 



cousin, a great connoisseur of country-breds, sold 

 it him for nearly double what he had paid. Be 

 cautious then of your friends, for ringbone often 

 produces no lameness till it spreads on the joint. 



POSITION OF THE LEGS. 



The forelegs must stand straight, as you may 

 naturally suppose : you will not be griffin enough 

 to purchase crooked legs. They should look mo- 

 derately wide at the chest, gradually approaching 

 each other at the fetlock. If they stand fixed 

 wide apart, "pinned," like a horse labouring un- 

 der inflamed lungs, it is almost as faulty as if 

 they were crooked from the knee downwards ; 

 but in the latter case, the knees look a trifle 

 too forward, in consequence of the legs being a 

 little bent backward ; he does not in fact stand 

 straight on his forelegs, and therefore you should 

 take the hint here, as well as in the capital crime, 

 the knuckling over of the fetlock joint ; for they 

 always become more crooked on work. These 

 unlicensed pins are sometimes defended on the 

 plea of the horse having been born so, but one 

 that was born crooked is surely quite as bad as 

 one that has been worked so. The leg at other 

 times, from the finish of the knee, has a slant 



