02 THE NOBLE SCIENCE. 



appearance, when well done ; but I do not know that it 

 is to be preferred to the use of the scissors. In neither 

 case should the hair be removed below the knee, which 

 forms a natural protection from thorns and cuts. 



FORE-LEGS. 



The mention of legs, reminds me that I must not 

 altogether omit a word or two with regard to the best 

 means of preserving these delicate parts of the ma- 

 chinery, upon which all the rest depend. With the best 

 frame, the best constitution, and the best feet, a horse 

 without good legs is useless. Always choose a flat, 

 sinewy leg, avoiding those which are round and fleshy. 

 Keep clear also, of round joints, which seldom stand. 

 Fore-legs should be nearly, or quite, straight, according 

 to perfect symmetry ; but an inclination to bow forwards 

 is much better than the reverse : there is much less 

 .strain, in action, on the back sinew. Some horses, foaled 

 with legs as crooked as those produced by hard work in a 

 post-horse, have stood training longer than any othei's. 

 Few, very few, hunters, rode to hounds, are gifted with 

 such fore-legs that there is not a screw loose by the end 

 of their third season. I am an advocate for firing, as a 

 pieventive, rather than a remedy. It is too late to fire 

 a broken-down horse, although, as long as the contraction 

 remains in force, he may be sustained, as it were, by a 

 perpetual bandage, for a time ; but if fired as soon as 

 there are any indications of its being ultimately neces- 



