ATTITUDES.' 459 



according to the nature of the work which he is called upon to per- 

 form. Still utilizable for light-draught work which, ordinarily, exacts 

 but little effort and speed, he becomes, on the contrary, unsuitable for 

 the saddle, the riding-school, the hunt, and the race-course, on account 

 of the relative weakness of his hind-members and the early develop- 

 ment of blemishes which the bad direction of the latter will soon 

 cause. Even if he be employed for heavy-draught work, his hocks 

 and his fetlocks will not long endure the great efforts which traction 

 on uneven ground necessitates. Hence he will lose, from this vice of 

 axis so prejudicial to the integrity of his locomotory columns, a great 

 deal of his value, and he siioidd be absolutely rejected when the 

 deviation in his posterior (juarters is altogether too well marked. 



Horse Camped Behind (Fig. 163 [3]). — The evil consequences 

 of this defect are far from being as serious for the posterior members 

 as for the anterior. 



Here the axis of the member is separated from the vertical and is 

 the reverse of that in the preceding conformation. In other words, it 

 is oblique downward and backward, which predisposes the animal to 

 slip backward and carry a portion of the weight upon the anterior 

 bipeds ; whence greater exertion for the latter to fulfil their function 

 during station as well as locomotion, especially if the weight of the 

 rider is added to that of the fore-quarters, and if the subject, low in 

 front, is obliged to go fast down-hill, an event which takes place 

 daily. 



The deviation of the posterior feet from the centre of gravity also 

 leads to other effects upon the vertebral column ; it imposes upon the 

 latter a portion of the weight which the hind-limbs would support by 

 their resistance were they properly directed under the trunk. Hence 

 it will soon manifest the fatigue of the extensor muscles of the back 

 by the latter becoming more ov less decidedly simy -backed, which 

 condition is opposed, as we have seen (page 117), to the integral 

 transmission of the impulsion from ])ehind. 



The calcaneus of the camped horse is not, as M. Sanson' believes, 

 necessarily less developed than in the case of a limb with a normal 

 direction ; it is simply more parallel with the tibia, which makes the 

 hock appear less wide and diminishes the perpendicular incidence of 

 the muscles which produce its extension. Also, as the vicious inser- 

 tions of these muscles (Mily become exaggerated during extreme ex- 

 tension of the canon, it follows from this that the latter will lose a 



1 A. Sanson, loc. cit., p. 682. 



