IO 



HORSE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



part. A bending of the knee backwards 

 is called a " calf-knee," and is not objected 

 to in cart-horses, in which it is by no 

 means uncommon ; but it is very apt to 

 lead to strains of this joint in the race- 

 horse or hunter. A knee naturally bend- 

 ing somewhat forward is much preferred 

 by good judges, though, when it is the 

 -result of over-work, it is almost equally to 

 'be avoided with the calf-knee. Flat, and 

 at the same time large cannon-bones, with- 

 out gumminess, are of great importance, 

 and if attended with a full-sized suspen- 

 sory ligament, and with strong, clean, and 

 free back sinews, the leg is to be con- 

 sidered faultless. The fetlock joint should 

 be of good size and clean, whilst the 

 pasterns should form an angle with the 

 ground of between forty-five and sixty 

 degrees. Lastly, the foot should be well 

 formed, but the construction of this part 

 being hereafter more fully described, we 

 shall omit its consideration here. 



In the Middlepiece the withers come 

 first under notice. It is usual to desire 

 them high and thin, but they are very 

 commonly too much developed, and if 

 the bony processes stand up like the edge 

 of a razor, without muscle on them, they 

 are to be regarded as objectionable rather 

 than otherwise. The inexperienced horse- 

 man is' apt to consider the existence of 

 high withers as a sure sign that the sad- 

 dle will be carried well back, but there 

 are some horses whose withers are the 

 greatest annoyance to the rider, for hav- 

 ing upright and short shoulder-blades, to- 

 gether with high withers, the saddle rides 

 forward upon the latter, and Chafes them 

 in spite of all the padding which can be 

 introduced. In looking at this point, we 

 believe the purchaser should almost en- 

 tirely disregard it, excepting to take care 

 that it is not too high for the formation 

 and position of the shoulder-blades. If 

 these are long, and therefore slanting, and 

 especially if in addition to a proper posi- 

 tion of the bones they are furnished with 

 plenty of muscle, the withers may be dis- 

 regarded, and the action may be expected 

 to be good, even if they are so low as to 

 show no rise between the neck and the 

 back. 



The volume of the chest is the measure 

 not only of the capacity of the lungs, but 

 of that of the large organs of digestion. 

 Hence, unless there is a middlepiece of 



proper size, the wind is seldom good, and 

 the stamina of the individual will scarcely 

 ever be sufficient to bear hard work. But 

 there is a limit to the development of this 

 part in those breeds which are required to 

 move with much velocity, where weight 

 is a great object; and if the body of the 

 race-horse or hunter was as heavy as that 

 of the dray-horse, the speed would be 

 greatly reduced, and the legs would give 

 way during the first severe gallop. So, 

 also, a wide chest interferes with the free 

 and rapid action of the shoulders and 

 arms as they glide on the ribs; and an 

 open bosom is almost always fatal to high 

 speed. In the race-horse and hunter, 

 therefore, capacity of chest must be ob- 

 tained by depth rather than width ; while 

 in the cart-horse, a wide chest and a 

 frame roomy in all directions is desired, 

 so as to give good wind, and, at the same 

 time, enable the animal to keep up his 

 flesh while working eight or nine hours 

 per day. For light, quick draught, a for- 

 mation intermediate between the two is 

 the proper one ; the large frame of the 

 cart-horse being too heavy for the legs to 

 bear at a fast pace, and leading to their 

 rapid destruction in trotting over our 

 modern hard roads. The capacity of the 

 lungs is marked by the size of the chest 

 at the girth ; but the stamina will depend 

 upon the depth of the back ribs, which 

 should be especially attended to. 



A short Back, with plenty of ground 

 covered nevertheless, is the desideratum 

 of every practised horseman. Unless the 

 measurement from the shoulder-point to 

 the back of the quarters is somewhat great- 

 er than the height of the withers, the 

 action is confined, especially in the gal- 

 lop, for the hind legs cannot be brought 

 sufficiently forward on account of the in- 

 terference of the fore-quarter; and, in- 

 deed, from the want of play in the back, 

 they are generally too much crippled in 

 that respect. A horse " short above and 

 long below " is the perfection of shape in 

 this particular, but he is not very com- 

 monly met with. Where length below is 

 seen, there is generally too much space 

 between the last rib and the hip, while on 

 the other hand coupled with a short back 

 we too often see the legs all "jumped up 

 together," and the action short and 

 stumpy. Next to these points in the 

 middlepiece it is important to pay atten- 



