POINTS. 



409 



limit to which the toe is extended when the healthy horse is resting the 

 limb. Such a fact proves the sheer upright form of the member to be 

 an Unnatural distortion and a positive impossibility. 



DIAGRAMS OP BONES TTITHIN THE HORSE'S FORELEG. 



The importance of the shoulder and of the arm bone having been 

 enlarged upon, there remains to direct the reader's attention toward that 

 which in general acceptance constitutes the forearm, as well as the knee, 

 the leg or the shin, the pastern and the foot. Where the limb quits the 

 trunk, it should be characterized by muscular developments, since at this 

 place resides the chief of that power by which the lower portions of 

 the member are directed. The flesh should bulge forth, and cannot be 

 too abundant; for a thin forearm is incompatible with goodness in a 

 horse. 



The point of the elbow should be prominently emphasized, as this 

 bone aifords a leverage whence many influential muscles originate, and 

 which some of the principal flexor agents directly operate upon. To- 

 ward the knee the swelling should gradually subside, leaving upon the 

 surface of the joint a broad, clean, and firm appearance. At the back 

 of the knee there should stand forth, or rather should stick out, an osse- 

 ous point, the size of which is of every value. Its aspect may not please 

 the inexperienced fancies of the boy; but the uses of this development 



