85 



observations have been made, the purchaser 

 should mount the horse himself, to ascertain 

 if he goes Hght in hand, and has a fine mouth; 

 and if a trial be allowed, which is usually the 

 case, let him ride five or ten miles out wnd 

 back again, and then he will be able to judge 

 if the horse ansv/ers his expectations. 



It will not be sufficient that a horse bends 

 his knees freely and well ; he must also bend 

 the fetlock joints with facility. If the pasterns 

 are short, stitF, and too upright, the horse will 

 bend the fetlock joints with great difficulty, 

 will fail getting his toe clear of the ground, 

 and will consequently trip. The action of the 

 fore hand consists in the bending with ease 

 and straightening again the fetlock and pastern 

 joints, the knees, the joints at the elbov/s, the 

 joints near the chest, and the depression and 

 elevation of the shoulder blade. When these 

 act properly, the horse carries his forehand 

 well, and moves v/ith ease to himself as well 

 as to his rider; but of all the above m^otions 

 that of the knee is by- far the most visible. 

 Hard v/ork stiffens the v/hole of a horse's 

 joints, but more especially his fetlock and pas- 

 tern joints, which sometimes become so stiff 



