CONFORMATION. 441 



Again, if the heels are narrow and the sole is unduly concave, the frog 

 will surely be small and probably diseased, because that conformation 

 removes it from the healthy influence of wear and pressure. If the foot 

 is flat and the sole convex, the frog often grows very large, because such 

 conformation induces the horse to put much weight on his heels. In 

 such a case a large frog cannot be regarded as a good sign. The organ 

 has enlarged and developed on account of malformation elsewhere. 



For further and more detailed information on the structure of the foot, 

 its frog and sole, the reader is referred to Chapter 62. 



910. The Leg below the knee. 



The Leg from the knee to the fetlock should be straight, flat and 

 broad. The tendons should stand out from the bone, and should feel 

 tense, distinct, and hard, and the interspace between the tendon and the 

 bone should give to sight and feel a " hollow " (Plate 27). If this space 

 is filled up with soft substances, the leg will appear " gummy." Also 

 Chapter 44. 



The leg from the knee to the pastern (Plates 27, 35, and 37) should 

 be straight. If the bone deviates from the straight line, it will bo 

 weak, and we shall probably find splint or some other indication of 

 weakness at the point of deviation, if the horse is put to hard work. 

 Again, if the bones incline outwards, we shall probably find the toes 

 turned out ; whilst if the bones incline inwards, the horse will probably 

 be "pigeon" or in-toed. (Figs. Ua, Ub, 15a, 156, 16a, 166, 17, and 

 170, Plate 37.) . 



Prominence of the trapezium or bone at the back of the knee is a most 

 important point. If this bone is small and undefined, the ligaments and 

 tendons will also be small and undefined, and the leg will be small imme- 

 diately below the knee. No horse will stand real hard work with so 

 radically defective a formation. (Fig. 8b, Plate 35.) 



For drawings of the bones of the leg below the knee and some further 

 illustrations of good and bad conformations, see Plates 26 and 35, 37, 

 and 38, also Chapter 39, on Splint. 



911. The Back. 



The Back should be straight and not over-long. It is strongest when 

 straight and short, and weakest when both long and hollow. A certain 

 amount of length in the back is however essential to speed. Though 

 shortness of back is an item of strength, as regards carrying weight, yet 

 the reader must remember that too much must not be sacrificed to any 

 one point. The chief use and value of a horse is his power of locomotion. 

 Again, a horse with a very short back is apt to over-reach, unless his 

 shoulders are very oblique and his action good. Moreover he cannot get 

 his hind legs sufficiently under him. 



Backs, which are in their original formation hollow, invariably give 

 way and become more hollow under the influence of weight and age. 

 Horses however with hollow backs have usually good shoulders and crests, 

 and one weak curve is to a certain degree compensated for by the 



