LESSONS IN HORSE JUDGING. lOT 



in front and at the sides, consequently it is these 

 which give the lower part of the hock size. They 

 must be large but not necessarily coarse, but they 

 may be large and coarse and of unequal size in 

 the two hocks and yet be quite healthy and free 

 from ^spavin.' The top of the metatarsal bone 

 on which they mainly rest must also be large. 

 When this latter is small we have a grave defect; 

 but when it is not only small, but forms with the 

 buffer bones of the hock an angle, we have a very 

 grave defect called 'curby hocks.' 



The hock should present on its inner surface a 

 big, flat, square appearance, and when a horse- 

 man speaks of hking a big, flat, square hock, he 

 refers to the inner aspect of the hock. The 

 boundaries of this so-called square are as follows: 

 the internal maleolus or lowest inner point of the 

 tibia; the extreme point of the hock; the front 

 part of the head of the tibia; lastly, the head of 

 the small inner metatarsal bone. These points 

 form the four points of the square, and the sides 

 are the imaginary lines between these four points. 

 It is not within the scope of this work to speak 

 of morbid conditions — such as spavin, curb, ring- 

 bone, splint, and so forth, but we must caution the 

 reader against an appearance of ^curb.' When 

 the head of the outer small metatarsal bone is 

 large, it gives the side aspect of the really good 

 well-made hock a 'curbed' appearance, because 

 the line from the extreme point of hock to the 

 fetlock at the back should be quite straight, and 

 is straight in all except badly formed hocks and 

 such as have ' curbs. ' Even when the head of 



