OUTLINE OF THE HORSE. 347 



moves. Ill every deiDartment of mechanics and in all the 

 professions science now holds supreme sway, and the farrier 

 must keep up with the march of imj^rovement. 



But the foundation of this marvelous superstructure is 

 the limb and foot. Unless they are properly balanced and 

 adjusted the entire mechanism is deranged and the movement 

 of the horse is painful and faulty. But before elaborating 

 this projoosition it is appropriate to direct your attention to 

 the construction of the limb and foot. 



Let me direct your notice to Fig. 5, page 52, which shows 

 the right front foot and leg cut through the center from knee 

 to base of the foot. This section displays the correct position 

 of the bones when the foot is properly balanced. The line 

 through the center of the upper and lower pastern bones 

 marks the normal angle of the foot, and shows that the cofHn 

 joint is the center of gravity of the hoof. 



This completes the illustrative and sectional drawings of 

 the carcass and the limits. Tliere is no accident here, but 

 the evidence of a divinely constructed mechanism, which re- 

 quires study in order to properly dress and shoe tlie foot. 



Now, fix in your minds the pivotal points of this mechan- 

 ism. The illustrations jDrove that the fourteenth dorsal ver- 

 tebrae is the center of gravity of the body, and the coffin joint 

 is the center of gravity of the foot. Around these two pivotal 

 points cluster all the science necessary to balance the carcass, 

 the limbs and the feet. How many horseshoers have grasped 

 the force of these observations upon the mastery of which de- 

 pends the success of farrierv? 



Balance the body and the feet and every joint will work 

 properly in its journals and every muscle will move with its 

 greatest yet economical expenditure of force. Then the horse 

 Avill show that poetry of motion which is thus taken out of 



