THE SELECTION OF A HORSE 



lopers ; not being able to bend their hocks 

 easily, they resist being brought back on to 

 them, and either bend their necks backwards 

 or drop their heads and pull. The second 

 thighs or legs should be wide and muscular, 

 and for speed the thigh should be long and 

 moderately oblique, so that the stifle may be 

 low ; the angle formed at the stifle nick by the 

 thigh and leg should have a wide opening 

 measuring 115 to 120 degrees, and a vertical 

 line dropped from the point of the buttock 

 should touch the hock and run right down the 

 back sinew to the fetlock. . 



To measure these angles an ordinary pro- 

 tractor made of brass with an arm working 

 from the centre of the circle is very useful. 



Have the horse trotted out, stand behind 

 him, and see that he moves true, that he does 

 not dish, and that the feet on each side move 

 in an exact line, and do not pass too close to 

 the opposite fetlock joint. If the marks of the 

 hind feet are in front of those of the fore feet, 

 and a little to the outside of them, the horse 

 will probably be a fast galloper and fine jumper, 

 besides being a good walker. Then ride the 

 horse ; trot him first with a loose rein to see 

 whether he throws his weight freely on to his 

 forelegs, then hold him tight by the head, and, 



9 



