896 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



evident that, however perfect this generator may be, however great the 

 amount of steam or of heat that it produces, if the organs of the ma- 

 chine consume too great a part of it, or are liable to break within a 

 short time under its impact, the locomotive cannot be considered fit for 

 service. The solidity and good arrangement of these motor organs, 

 then, are essential, since without them the generator of force cannot be 

 used, for the expansive power of steam is available only through the 

 medium of the mechanism which it moves. 



" It is the same with the animal machine, in which the motor 

 organs are represented by the members, whilst the generator of force 

 is represented by the trunk. The latter, in fact, contains all the 

 organs for the nutrition of the machine, the digestive and the respira- 

 tory apparatus through which are introduced the solid, liquid, and 

 gaseous articles of food indispensable to the display of organic power 

 and the manifestation of movement."^ 



The advantage of this method is that one is obliged to begin the 

 examination with the hoof, whose good integrity and conformation are 

 of so much importance. In order that another examination may not 

 be necessary, one should make sure at once, by raising each of the four 

 feet, that the animal will otfer no resistance to this manoeuvre, and by 

 striking upon his shoes, that he will allow himself to be shod without 

 difficulty. The upper parts of the members should then undergo 

 ocular inspection, either by comparing the analogous parts in the two 

 anterior and the two posterior members, or by analyzing them as com- 

 pared with those which are above or below them in the line of the 

 same member. In the first case, the horse is divided into imaginary 

 horizontal sections (feet, pasterns, fetlocks, canons, knees, and hocks ; 

 forearms and legs ; arms and thighs ; shoulder and croup), as recom- 

 mended by Captain Rivet ; ^ in the second, we proceed vertically in 

 such a way as to recognize the harmony of adjacent regions (canon and 

 forearm ; arm and forearm ; shoulder and arm). In our opinion, the 

 eye of the examiner should take in the animal in both of these two 

 ways, for each will give valuable information. 



The body is to be examined in the same way (neck, shoulder, 

 withers, back, croup, chest, abdomen, and flank). While inspecting 

 the flanks, the movements of which are of great importance, the geni- 

 tal organs should be examined, the loins pinched, and the tail raised to 

 examine the anus. 



1 A. Sanson, Trait"? de zootechnie, t. iii. p. 179, 2e ^^d., Paris, 1878. 

 * A. Rivet, Guide pratique de I'acheteur de chevaux, p. 108. 



