58 THE HORSE. 



leave a lacuna (L) between them and the frog (F), a 

 body having the shape of an elongated V in soft and 

 elastic horn, which mingles with the. glomes (G), covering 

 the heels, situated at the posterior extremity of the foot. 

 The top of the hoof is circumvented by a per top lie horned 

 band, which is attached to the glomes (G, fig. 30). 



We are of opinion that it will be beneficial to make 

 some observations on the shape left by the exterior out- 

 lines of the prints or trails of a horse which has never been 

 shod. This mark of the sole of the fore-foot is round, 

 and within its circumference can be inscribed the hind, 

 foot, which makes an angle rounded at the toe, and of 

 which the diameter is often less than that of the first. 

 The following is the explanation of this difference in the 

 shape. 



The posterior limbs are the principal agents of impul- 

 sion, which they transmit from below upwards directly 

 into the trunk, by the manner of their union with the 

 vertebral column, and this the more vigorously that they 

 are engaged under the mass of the body with the fewest 

 points of contact. The pointed formation is evidently 

 that which unites the largest impulsive force ; the energy 

 is determined by the depth of the print on the ground, 

 when the utmost detention occurs. (See T, P, G, fig. 30, 

 hind foot.) 



The role of the fore-foot is to react, and to do so with 

 moderation, without violent disturbance of the principal 

 vital organs, which are situated as though suspended 

 under the anterior limbs. With this object, they unite 

 themselves to the chest by elastic and gentle suspensions. 

 And the set-down, however violent it be, only reaches the 

 ground at the appui, attenuated by the suppleness of the 

 pastern fixing itself at numerous points of contact on a 

 large rounded surface. (See T, P, G, fig. 30, fore-foot.) 



II. THE BODY. 



The back is next in succession to the withers (9, fig. 

 31). It is composed of twelve vertebrae, termed the 

 dorsal. This is what supports the weight of the rider. 

 It should therefore possess suppleness as well as a certain 

 rigidity, and the horizontal direction is regarded as the 



