88 HUNTING 



foot, should be nearly round, the inner side being 

 slightly more oval than the outer side. From the top 

 of tlie crust, i.e. the " coronet," where the hoof and the 

 hair meet, to the bottom or toe, the angle should be 

 45°. As the feet have to carry the horse and the 

 rider, good feet are more essential than anything else. 



The shorter the distance between the knee and 

 fetlock joint, i.e. the cannon or leg-bone, in comparison 

 with the length of the forearm, or, in other words, the 

 greater the length of the forearm in comparison with 

 the distance between the knee and fetlock joints, the 

 stronger the horse. The circumference of the distance 

 between the knee and fetlock joints should be the same 

 at any point. The fetlocks must be free from puffiness 

 or any enlargement of bone, and the pasterns should be 

 sufficiently long to be pliable ; short pasterns are also 

 apt to develop enlargements of bone. 



The shoulder of a horse should be set as far back 

 into the back as possible, for the further back the 

 shoulder is set, the more of the horse will there be 

 in front of the rider. 



The body or " barrel " of the horse should be deep and 

 curved like the beams of a ship, not flat. To be able 

 to judge the curve of the "barrel" the purchaser 

 must stand in a perfectly straight line behind the 

 horse. As already stated, the vertical distance between 

 the back rib bone and the hip-bone must not exceed 

 four inches ; if it does so exceed, the horse will 

 be slack-loined, i.e-. wanting in strength at the very 

 place where he will most feel the weight of the rider. 

 In other words, a slack-loined horse is never up to 

 carrying much weight, and is apt to rick his back. 



