106 LESSONS IN HORSE JUDGING. 



on ' of the hind hmbs results and the hind Hmbs 

 look outwards. This being so, the hocks are 

 closer together, and the horse is said to be ' cow 

 hocked.' The ilio-ischia bones ought to be as 

 parallal as possible, so that the hind hmbs look 

 straight forwards and backwards, when the horse 

 is standing. In moving, the hip joint and the 

 screw-hke astragalus cause the limb naturally to 

 assume the slightly outward aspect. In ourselves 

 this is so, and the dancing master or driU sergeant 

 is not to be thanked that our toes are a little out- 

 turned, because as the hip joint is constituted 

 they could not be otherwise. 



It is hoped that the above remarks will form a 

 good guide to those who are desirous of thinking 

 out for themselves the numberless points to be 

 observed in horse judging. 



We shall now close these remarks with a few 

 observations on the hock. 



THE HOCK. 



82. — Of all the joints in the body this is the 

 most impoi-tant. We must refer the reader to 

 our description of the bones in Lesson VIII., and 

 remind him that according to the size of the indi- 

 vidual bones alone the ajyj^arent size of the hock 

 does not depend, but more upon the angle at 

 which the tibia impinges upon the astragalus. 

 This is well seen in extreme flexion, when the 

 hock seems to disappear, leaving nothing but its 

 so-caUed point in view. The lower fourth or 

 more of the hock is made up of the buffer bones 



