300 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



lono- ; the posterior face, less extensive, and known under the name 

 fold of the pastern, is the centre of the movement of flexion of the 

 hoof upon the phalanges ; finally, the two lateral faces, almost subcu- 

 taneous, are crossed from above downward; and from before backward, 

 by a ligament of constraint which the suspensory of the fetlock sends 

 to the tendon of the anterior extensor of the digit. The skin which 

 covers this region is more or less thick according to the race ; the hairs 

 also have a variable abundance and texture. 



Beauties. — The pastern should be wide, thick, of medium length, 

 well directed, fine, and free from blemishes. 



Width and Thickness. — The width is measured in an antero- 

 posterior sense, viewing the animal in profile ; the thickness, on the 

 contrary, is appreciated from side to side, examining the subject in 



front. 



Great importance is attached to the development of both of these 

 dimensions. The width gives the measure of the volume of the first 

 phalanx and of the tendons which pass over its two faces. The thick- 

 ness indicates the transverse development of the articular surfaces, 

 which, we know, is correlative to that of the fetlock and that of the 

 coronet. Now the principal condition to be realized in the solidity of 

 the members of the horse is the volume of the bones and the ligaments 

 which unite them, in order to maintain their locomotory angles ; we 

 judge of it, therefore, in relation to the body, as a whole, keeping in 

 view the thickness of the segment and the abundance of the hairy 

 productions which cover them. 



Length.— To assign an absolute length to the pastern would 

 oblige us to enter into too many minute details, as the excess or the 

 deficiency of this element can be, and quite frequently is, compensated 

 by a more or less oblique direction of the phalanges under the canon. 

 The various diiferences in this respect can be quickly recognized by the 

 practised eye. We will therefore refer to them only to show the 

 advantages and the disadvantages dependent upon these variations, 

 with regard to the particular service which a horse is destined to 



perform. 



A horse whose pasterns are too long is called long-jointed; he is 

 short-jointed in an opposite sense. Each of these conformations is 

 regarded as an absolute defect, if it be not compensated, in part at 

 least, by a proper direction, as we shall see farther on. 



Until now, and for convenience of demonstration, the phalangal 

 segment was considered as an almost rigid column extending from the 

 fetlock to the ground. 



