LESSONS IN HORSE JUDGING. 09 



the ground with his left hand, and is dragging 

 the string upwards to the notch or catch with his 

 right hand. In such a case the end resting on the 

 ground is pressed downwards with the left hand, 

 and is dragged upwards through the medium of 

 the string with the other. Such a weight differs 

 much from a so-called dead weight. Excluding 

 the long bones above and below which meet the 

 hock, and regarding only the intrinsic bones of 

 hock, we can divide them into three sets accord- 

 ing to their functions; namely— 



1. The gHding bone. 



2. The lever bone. 



3. The buffer bones. 



The gHding bone is called the astragalus, and is 

 a large cubical block which carries the two large 

 ghdmg surfaces, on which glides the small end of 

 the tibia. These two large gliding surfaces have 

 a screw-like form which causes the parts below 

 the hock, when the toe is lifted, to move out- 

 wards. Then again, this gliding surface is almost 

 parallel with the long axis of the hock and parts 

 below. Then again, and this is very important to 

 remember, when the foot is on the ground, the 

 leg at its straightest, and the very small end of 

 the tibia resting upon the top of this large ghding 

 surface, the hock appears large, but when the leg 

 is hfted, and the small end of the tibia slides 

 necessarily to the bottom of this large gliding 

 surface, the hock looks small, therefore it is the 

 relation of this large gliding surface to the small 

 surface at the lower end of the tibia which deter- 



