HORSES: THEIR POINTS AND MANAGEMENT 



Cannons and ivv{ slionld be free from disease, though 

 hunters' feet are not subjected to the same amount of constant 

 concussion as that of the hackney, unless the master requires 

 the dual i^erformance of office, viz., half hack, or hackney, and 

 half hunter. 



Back and Loins. — A strong back and flexible loins are 

 imperative in a hunter, owing to the bending movements, hence 

 the necessity for trying the animal so as to throw these parts 

 into full play. 



There is a natural inchnation in old horses towards 

 " fusion " of the lumbar or loin vertebrae, and this destroys 

 the normal flexibility of the part. 



Hind Quarters and Hocks. — The croup and first and 

 second thighs must be well muscled, of good conformation, 

 and free from disease, blemishes being of secondary importance. 



Thoro-pin occurs just above the point of the hock, 

 but it is not often that it produces lameness, yet it is regarded 

 as constituting unsoundness. 



H is denoted bv swelling — not with any heat as a rule — 

 and manipulation with the finger presses the fluid from the 

 " in " to the outside, or vice-versa. Citrb is not at all un- 

 common in hunters, and in some of these it never does any 

 harm, but in others it is a cause of lameness. It appears as 

 a convex swelling two or three inches below the point of, and in 

 a line with, the hock. Some horses have large curbs on both 

 hocks, or a large one on one side, and a small one on the 

 other. 



A hunter ought to be very " clean " and sound about 

 his hocks, knowing that he has got to inake particular use of 



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