102 ILLUSTRATED HORSE-BREAKING. 



a horse lie down, even when he had knee-caps 

 on, and when the ground was quite soft ; (c) The 

 fieel of the shoe, if one be on, is apt to bruise 

 and cut the elbow ; (d) The compression exercised 

 by the strap on the fore-arm numbs the leg, and 

 tends to make the animal fall awkwardly, if he 

 is made to lie down ; (e) Unless the strap is 

 kept very tight, it is apt to slip down the fore- 

 arm, and thus exercise an injurious strain on the 

 fetlock joint. 



2. By far the best way for tying up a fore-leg 

 is the one described by Mr. Saunders in ' Our 

 Horses,' by which the leg is simply suspended, at 

 any length required, from the surcingle. Mr. 

 Saunders advises the use of a small loop to 

 connect the surcingle and strap together (see 

 Fig. 15), with the object, I presume, of keeping 

 the limb in a plane parallel to the general direc- 

 tion of the horse's body. This is certainly an 

 advantage when making a horse lie down, although 

 I have found, for ordinary purposes of control, 



