CONFORMATION. 445 



accompanied by large and well-developed tendons and ligaments. The 

 hock as seen laterally should be wide both above and below. Strength 

 and size of bones and ligaments are both indicated by lateral width. 



The leg from the point of the hock down should incline a little under 

 the body. This conformation is best adapted both for jumping and 

 speed, because it allows the legs to be brought well forward in action. If 

 the leg is inclined very much forward, the formation becomes weak, 

 because the great bend made at the hock will occasion strain on the liga- 

 ments and tendons of that important structure. (Plates 22, 23, and 24.) 



On the other hand, if the leg be placed perpendicularly under the hock 

 there will be excessive concussion and great strain, especially in halting 

 and turning, and consequent liability to diseases such as spavin, bog- 

 spavin, and thorough-pin. If the leg inclines backwards, the horse 

 cannot draw it well under his body, and there will then be want of pro- 

 pelling power. The hock, too, will be liable to sprain, and to become 

 affected with bog-spavin, &c. In short, the angle formed at the hock by 

 the tibia and metatarsal bones should be neither very great nor unduly 

 small. In itself, as distinct from the angle just spoken of, the leg should 

 be perfectly straight from the point of the hock to the fetlock. 



Any deviation laterally from the perpendicular line, as is the case when 

 the hocks are inclined either too much out or too much in, is a source of 

 weakness and therefore of disease. By the public, hocks which bow out 

 are generally considered less objectionable than those which incline 

 towards each other. The author very much questions the correctness of 

 this opinion. In the former case horses are said to go " wide behind," 

 whilst in the latter they are called " cow-hocked." (Plate 24.) 



The os calcis or prominent bone at the posterior point of the hock, 

 No. 21 in Skeleton, should be very well developed, very prominent, and 

 isolated as it were from the substance of the thigh, in order to give due 

 leverage to the tendons passing over it and attached to it, and also 

 attachment to the ligaments belonging to it. This formation is essential 

 to power and speed. 



More detailed information in regard to the conformation of the hock 

 will be found in the Chapter specially devoted to that subject, No. 37. 

 (Plates 22, 23, and 24.) 



918. Great and small Metatarsal bones. 



The remarks made in the earlier portion of this Chapter on the bones 

 of the fore-leg below the knee apply equally to the bones of the hind leg 

 below the hock. Briefly however we may say that the portion of the 

 leg below the hock cannot be too short. The greater length should be 

 in the bones above the hock. The metatarsal bones, though their posi- 

 tion should be slightly obliquely forward, must be in themselves perfectly 

 straight. 



o 



919. Sena moid and Navicular bones. Hind legs. 

 The Sesamoid and Navicular bones, though their functions are similar 

 to those of the corresponding bones in the fore leg, are less often diseased, 



