108 THE HORSE. 



back edge of the hip must be observed. The greater 

 it is, the more muscular substance will the space con- 

 tain. Some of the muscles at the back edge of the 

 hip are of gi*eat importance. They ought to be so well 

 defined, so prominent, and distinct, that their detection 

 on the living animal will present no difficulty. In the 

 high-bred horse they are generally extremely well de- 

 fined. They ought to be as long as possible ; the far- 

 ther they reach down towards the hock, the better. I 

 never like to see them turning in suddenly to the bone 

 a little below the stifle-joint. It adds greatly to the 

 beauty, as well as to the power, of the hind-quarter, to 

 have these muscles very long and prominent from their 

 origin, at the root of the tail and about the hip-joint, 

 to their termination in the bone above the hock. Length 

 in all the muscles of the hind-quarter is a particularly 

 gratifying thing in the eye of every judge of the horse. 

 To have sufficient speed and propelling power, there 

 must be length, substance, and favoiu-able leverage. 



THE TIBIA, 



or lower bone of the thigh, reaches from the stifle-joint 

 to the hock. For speed, it requires to be long ; the hock 

 can hardly be too close to the gi'ound. The stifle-joint, 

 corresponding to the knee in the human subject, is 

 formed by the connexion of the tibia with the upper 

 thigh-bone. It is a very important joint, and requu-es 



