124 HORSEMANSHIP, 



exhaustion. The hind quarters should be long, having 

 the hip-bones very wide apart, well rounded, and not at 

 all angular. The thighs ought to be very long and 

 strong to the hocks ; the hocks themselves very large, 

 and developing great strength. They must be free from 

 spavin, curb, or thorough-pin. In examining the hocks 

 for spavin, place yourself immediately in front of the 

 fore-legs, and, stooping down, look between them to see 

 the clear outline of the hocks. Any undue enlargement 

 appearing, it will prove to be either a blood or a bone 

 spavin. The blood spavin is an aneurism of the blood- 

 vessels of the hock, and the bone spavin is an excres- 

 cence of bony matter that generally interferes with or 

 paralyses the action of the joint of the hock. The curb 

 is found on the back part of the hock, therefore is more 

 plainly seen when viewed from the side of the horse. 

 The hind part of the leg, from the cap of the hock to 

 hind part of the fetlock, should form a perfectly straight 

 line. Any deviation from it on the lower part of the 

 hock bespeaks the presence of curb. The thorough-pin 

 in its first stages is nothing more than a windgall of the 

 hock. Eventually the humours become ossified. 



The thighs or buttocks should be rather wide apart, 

 and the hocks a very little inclined inwards : the hind 



