24 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



The soles of the feet should be moderately concave, 

 smooth, and hard, and show no scabby or chalky con- 

 dition. The frog or elastic cushion in the foot should 

 be clearly denned, and be soft and pliable. The 

 heels and bars should be neither too narrow, which 

 denotes contraction, nor yet too wide, which is a sign 

 of weakness. 



The same rules which apply to the forefeet apply 

 equally well to the hind feet, but as a general rule the 

 hind feet are less subject to disease, and while they 

 should not be neglected, are not so important as the 

 forefeet, which carry the greater part of the horse's 

 weight. 



A well-shaped hind leg is, perhaps, one of the most 

 beautiful portions of a horse's anatomy. The greatest 

 length in the leg should be from the hip to the hock. 

 Thirty-nine inches from point to point is considered 

 desirable, and a horse can never be too "let down," 

 nor can the portion of the leg below the hock ever be 

 too short. 



Two bones, the femur and the tibia, joined together, 

 form the upper part of the hind leg. The femur should 

 lie obliquely forward, and the tibia obliquely back, as 

 in this formation the hind leg is brought into its proper 

 place. When the bones are so placed the stifle appears 

 prominent and well defined. That much-to-be-desired 

 thing, a good straight hind leg, means that, viewed 

 from the side, the hocks and the fetlocks should he a 

 very little back of a line dropped from the point of the 

 buttocks. The hock, like the knee, is composed of a 

 collection of small bones, and if denned and bony is 

 less liable to disease. A so-called "rough" hock is 

 preferable to an ill-formed small one. Viewed from 

 the rear the hocks should incline neither in nor out. 



