FORE-LEGS 



shoulders and breast, and others attached to the knee and 

 fetlock, which enable the horse to bend his joints. The 



principal muscle which bends the 

 knee extends from the shoulder 

 to the knee and passes downwards 

 behind it to the splint bones ; and 

 there are also muscles passing 

 down the back of the fore - arm 

 down to the coffin bone which 

 enable the horse to bend his fet- 

 lock and pastern joints. Above 

 the knee these muscles are con- 

 nected by the back tendon which 

 runs through the groove in the 

 Pisiform down the back of the 

 cannon bone. The suspensory- 

 ligament, which is the main support 

 of the fetlock, is placed at the back 

 of the cannon bone between the 

 two splint bones, commencing at 

 the top of the former and dividing 

 into two a little more than half- 

 way down to the fetlock, the two 

 branches connecting with the sesa- 

 moid bones, after which they 

 extend towards the front and join 

 the tendon of the muscle which 

 extends the foot at the middle 



Bones of the Fore-legs. 



1. Radius. 



2. Pisiform. 



3. Cunieform. 



4. Trapezoid. 



5. Unieform. 



6. Inner small metacarpal or 



splint bone. 



7. Large metacarpal or cannon of the paStern. 



8. Sesamoid bone. The fore - leg should 



9. Suffraginis or long pastern 



bone. 



10. Os Coronre or small pastern 



bone. 



11. Os Pedis or coffin bone. 



12. Navicular bone. 



be long 

 in the fore -arm and short in the 

 cannon bone, whilst the pasterns 

 should be fairly long and sloping. 

 If too long and too sloping they 

 are apt to be weak, but if they are too short and upright they 

 will not stand the concussion they receive at work, and the 

 action of the horse will not be so smooth and easy. A 



