EXTERIOR. 65 



observed that the elbow and stifle are at approximately 

 the same distance from the ground — a fact which must 

 not be forgotten. 



The leg (20, fig. 31), often confused with the thigh, 

 which it follows, has an oblique prolongation from the 

 fore to the rear, from below the stifle to the hock : it has 

 the tibia for base : it articulates with the femur under its 

 inferior tuberosity and only moves in the rear to close 

 over this latter. 



A strong, sinewy and long leg will provide a 

 strengthened and lively gait. If the leg be muscular and 

 short the horse may be very excellent, more especially for 

 the manege. 



The leg and the forearm, to which it corresponds, are 

 constantly in opposition : the tibia causes the upward and 

 forward progression of the body. The radius reacts by 

 moderating and attenuating the motor force. These two 

 bones are of equal length. 



The hock (22, fig. 31), the point of which corresponds 

 with the human ankle, is the inferior portion of the tibia 

 (bone of the leg), and rests upon the six tarsal bones and 

 the head of the posterior canon. In the transmission of 

 motion, and as offering the first opposition to the resistance 

 of the ground, this is the most important region of the 

 animal. 



This articulation should be hollow and dry : its width 

 is measured from the anterior border, or fold, to the 

 posterior extremity or summit of the calcaneus, known as 

 the point of the hock. The limitation of its thickness (G, 

 H, fig. 32), is the inferior tuberosity of the tibia. 



The hock has two faces : the external (G, K) and the 

 internal (H, L). The tendinous cord of the hock, or the 

 calcanean cord, is the name given to the assemblage of 

 tendons of extensor muscles which, profiling the posterior 

 portion of the leg, arrive upon the tuberosity of the 

 calcaneous (M), turn around it thence, to fall like a well- 

 detached cord in a straight line, behind the canon to the 

 fetlock. In its superior portion, namely, at its juncture 

 with the hock, the calcanean cord isolates itself from the 

 muscles and from the bone of the leg : this depression 

 should be strongly indicated : it is called the hollow of the 

 hock (see fig 34). 



