DEFORMED IJMBS. 9 



lion, entail on them the chances of producing some one or other of those evils 

 that are known to afflict certain horses, incurably, to the end of their days. 

 Thus, some are known to tread on the inner quarter of the hoof, others on 

 the outside, without the real cause being ever ascertained, and remedies are 

 frequently appHed that have not the remotest chance of achieving any good, 

 on that very account. Some horses " cut" in consequence of treading on the 

 outer quarter ; on the contrary, by punishing the inner quarter in treading, 

 others contract a disposition to "quittor and ringbone;" both instances of 

 mal-formation, or bad built (as I call it), produce splcnts, diseases of the frog, 

 of the sensible sole, and of the coronet, as the case may be : how the various 

 modes of wrong treading are brought on remain to be examined into hereafter. 

 Meantime, it may not be amiss to observe that the right mode and make may 

 be discovered by noticing the proportions of those horses, that, by the acknow- 

 ledged just synmietry of their bones, the agreement in size of one Hmb with 

 another, and the faultless manner in which these are attached to the body, 

 go tolerably free from any such diseases, until old age, accident, or the misap- 

 plication of their powers,- brings on disease. 



6. There are, then, three kinds of mal -formation, or bad shape, attendant 

 on the limbs of horses, which I consider original faults, those others to which 

 they give rise being but secondary ones, 1st. That wherein the leg is ill-form- 

 ed in itself. 2d. When it is badly joined to the body. 3d. When the fore 

 legs disagree with the hind ones in length or quantity. Each, being attended 

 by its respective defect in going, as to safety, speed, or strength, and liable to 

 incur one or other of the ills enumerated, as appearing on the legs and feet — 

 is worthy of the reader's separate consideration ; although it frequently ha|)- 

 pens that an individual horse is afflicted with all three faults at the same time, 

 the two first being found together, subsequently producing the other also. But 

 1 have generally noticed that one of those faults sometimes accommodates 

 itself to the other, amending it considerably; as, when a limb that is too long 

 is set higher up on tlje body than is esteemed right construction, in the same 

 manner as a horse lame of a log may be passed off for sound should the cor- 

 responding leg of his body also fall lame.* Much the same is it with the 

 third kind of disagreement, in the opinion of many people; Iwcause it has 

 existed in some celebrated horses, and they would have us believe that this 

 very disagreement was itself the cause of the celebrity those individuals ar- 

 rived at. This, however, was not the fact. 



7. The Phccnomcna mare, unquestionably the first trotter of her inches in 

 our days, never did her work in style : nobody could account for her achieve- 

 ments upon the view, and I had always my doubts whether hers was a fair 

 trot, though I won upon her. In the trot she had an unaccountable shuffle. 

 She was low before, but had the gift of taking lier fore feet out of the way 

 of the hinder, which fell (in the walk) about half a shoe beyond that of the 

 fore ones, the feet reaching the ground in successi()n. 



Laertes, a grey horse, hunted in Leicestershire, 1818, 1819,+ of no par- 

 ticular powers any where, and confessedly clumsy in the forehand, without 

 much fire, was yet in the habit of taking the ordinary six-feet leaps with ease, 

 and clearing a ditch of twenty-tlve feet with pleasure, often exceeding those 

 ailmeasurements by nearly a Iburth. Eclipse is known to all of us (as matter 

 of history) for having had a low shoulder, which gave his fore quarters an 

 awkward appearance : but this was compensated lor by the fine form of his 

 hind quarter, which, being [jarticularly strong and muscular, threw his body 



* Certain dealers are known to liave iiidifteil lameness on the foot with Jiis view, flfwiu' 

 •Ad disgusting as Is the relation, 'tis no less true, 

 t At that time the property of Mr. Malxjily. 

 3 



