78 LESSONS IN HORSE JUDGING. 



yield well in the gallop, and in doing so may not 

 come too near the ground. 



In draught horses they must be less upright, and 

 they must be short and very stout. 



67. — The feet of all horses must have the same 

 general characters. The fore feet must be some- 

 what oval with their long axes from side to side ; 

 the hind feet too must be somewhat oval, but their 

 long axes is from behind forward. The wall of the 

 foot in front must be in a line with the front outline 

 of the pastern when the horse is standing. The line 

 formed at the top of the foot where the hair and 

 hoof meet must be nearly at a right angle with the 

 front line of the foot and pastern, so that the heels 

 will neither be too high and the foot ' boxy' nor too 

 low, and thereby tender. The sole of the foot must 

 be well arched, and the frog large, wedge shaped 

 and unbroken or ragged. The foot must also have 

 a bright shining gloss upon it like our own nails. 

 Shoeing-sraiths ought not to be allow^ed to remove 

 more of this bright substance than they can help at 

 the time they are rasping the turned ends of the 

 nails, with which they fasten on the shoe, as it is 

 this glue-like substance which keeps the fibres of 

 the hoof from splitting. They ought never to 

 be allowed to pare the sole of the foot and so 

 weaken the arch on which the column of bones 

 rests. After duly warning the shoeing-smith 

 against the infringement of these rules, horse 

 owners should instantly dispense with the services 

 of one who abuses the rasp and drawing knife. In 



