LIFTING UP HIND LEG. 135 



from danger. As long as we have hold of the fore hoof with 

 the hand, we can get forward out of danger if the horse tries 

 to kick. The grasp of the left hand deprives the hind leg of 

 the greater part of its action, and the hind pastern is caught 

 so quickly after, even if not before, the near fore reaches the 

 ground, that the animal has not time to make an offensive 

 movement. By catching the pastern in the way described, 



Fig. 56. Lifting up horse's hind leg. 



we aid in preventing the animal from cow-kicking, to do 

 which, he must bend his hock ; for the muscle which flexes 

 the foot, extends the hock. Were we to catch the canon 

 bone instead of the pastern, we should, besides losing this 

 advantage, have less ability to act on the lever formed by 

 the bones below the hock, by reason of our shifting the 

 point of application of the " power " closer to the fulcrum 

 (the head of the tibia). The irritation caused by the grasp 



