HOW TO BUY AND SELL. 93 



Horses of this kind are in this respect perfectly sound, 

 as much as the blind horse is; for in the former, as well 

 as the latter case, the defect is plainly visible. Though 

 a very upright-shouldered horse is considered unsound 

 in so far as regards his capabilities as a hunter, he is, 

 nevertheless, able to do harness-work, without inconven- 

 ience or danger, and, as long as he is kept for that kind 

 of work only, is SOUND. 



Many writers contend that upright shoulders are neces- 

 sary to even first-class draught. I differ from them. But 

 the horse being misplaced does not render him unsound. 



In thus alluding to his unfitness for hunting purposes, 

 I take an extreme of upright shoulders: though there is 

 danger in every degree of this make, that is, in every 

 gradation, from the oblique or perfect contour, down to 

 extreme and most faulty deformity. 



Therefore, horses with upright shoulders are, properly 

 speaking, suitable for harness-work only; the nearer the 

 shoulders approach to uprightness, the greater is the 

 decrease in the horse's speed, until at length he is quali- 

 fied for slow work only; so long as he has speed enough 

 left in him for his required labor, he is well adapted for 

 double harness or for four-wheel work, as there is then 

 no vertical pressure of his back. 



When such horses fall down, which they are almost 

 certain to do before the ninth year, if working fast, and 

 they hurt themselves in a trifling degree only, they are, 

 until cured, UNSOUND. 



Soundness and unsoundness, subsequent to such a fall, 

 depends entirely upon the extent of the injury received. 

 See the article on "Broken Knees." 



UPEIGHT JOINTS KNUCKLING. 



When the pastern- joint of one or both of the fore-legs 

 is perpendicular to the rest of the leg, instead of sloping 



