THE HOUND'S HIND-QUARTERS 



of the hock and the ground, results in a hound 

 being what is familiarly known as " cow- 

 hocked." This means that he lifts his hind legs 

 higher than he should when travelling at speed, 

 and cannot get them well under his body. Owing 

 to this deviation, the power of the toe flexors is 

 lessened, and there is therefore less spring in the 

 feet in both a forward and backward direction. 

 A hound so formed lacks speed and jumpmg 

 ability. The longer the femur or first thigh 

 bone, the lower the hock, and the greater 

 the speed. Likewise the more obtuse the angle 

 between them, the greater the power to throw 

 the legs in either a backward or forward direction. 

 The tibia or second thigh articulates with the 

 lower end of the femur, forming the stifle joint. 

 The patella or knee cap, is a small bone attached 

 by ligaments to the lower front of the femur. 

 The more prominent the point of the patella, the 

 slower the hound, because the angle between 

 femur and tibia is in this case acute, and so 

 reduces the length of stride. The muscles of the 

 hind-quarters, particularly those of the second 

 thigh are of great importance, because on them 

 depends power and endurance. It is these 

 muscles which enable a hound of correct ana- 

 tomical conformation to go the pace, and take all 

 kinds of formidable obstacles at speed. It will 

 thus be seen that the small, compact, and short 

 coupled hound, which has full use of his hocks 

 and can get his hind-legs right under his body, is 

 enabled to fence with far greater ease than the 

 big hound with lengthy body and waist. In 

 addition to having less weight and lumber to lift 

 in an upward direction when fencing, the compact, 

 light boned hound suffers much less from jar and 

 concussion when landing. 



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