THE POINTS OF THE HORSE, ETC. 7.^ 



placed far forward, are the worst, owing to the forward position in which 

 such a conformation carries the weight. 



The arm should be long and muscular. Looked at from the side, it xhe arm. 

 should be broad at the elbow with the muscles well outlined, and tapering 

 gradually towards the knee. Regarded from the front, it is narrow with 

 bulging muscles on the outside and a clean, hard line on the inside where 

 the bone is next the skin. 



The knee should be, like all joints, big, to afford plenty of room for The knee, 

 the attachment of strong muscles. It should be broad and flat, deep from 

 front to back, with a very slight bulge forward in front, and the bony knob 

 at the back large and prominent. 



" Stag knees^^ " Calf knees'''' or " back at the knee " are the terms used '' ^'■^^„ 

 to describe joints which, when looked at from the side, show a concave u^^^f' 

 rather than a convex line down the front of the knee. knees " or 



" back at 

 the knee." 



" Tied at the kjiee"" means that the measurement across the cannon "Tied at 

 and tendons immediately below the knee is small as compared with the the knee." 

 same lower down. 



The camion should be short ; narrow when viewed from the front. The 

 broad and flat looking from the side, with the tendons standing out in cannon, 

 clean, hard, straight lines at the back. The line of the tendons from 

 knee to fetlock should be straight, and the leg should look the same 

 width below the knee as it does just above the fetlock. Good measure- 

 ment below the knee is usually called " plenty of bone," but it includes 

 the tendons as well as the bone, and really means that there is plenty of 

 room for the tendons, and that these are well developed. 



" Ginniny legs'''' are those in which the clean, hard lines which should "Gummy 

 mark the course of the tendons are not well defined ; but which, owing to ^^gs.' 

 general fulness of the leg, or sprain of some particular part, look more 

 rounded than they should. 



The pastern should be strong and of medium slope and length. Too The 

 long and sloping pasterns may be as faulty as short and upright ones, for pastern, 

 although they usually give a pleasant elastic action, they lack strength for 

 hard work and carrying weight. The short, upright pastern means loss 

 of elasticity and extra concussion to both horse and rider, and the mean 

 between these two extremes is best. An exception as regards the slope 

 of the pastern must be made in the case of Arabs, as in some of the best 

 of them the slope is very great. 



The foot is considered in the chapter on shoeing (p. 214). The foot. 



The forehand, as a whole, deserves special consideration : as it 7^^ 



* forehand, 



