110 now TO BL'Y A HORSE. 



liis knees bent forward and his legs tremidous, or with both 

 his fetlock joints knuckled forward over his pasterns, one 

 may be sure that however good he ma}^ once have been, 

 he has been knocked to pieces or injured by hard diiving 

 and hard ^vork. Supposing the horse now to stand square 

 and true on all his legs, leaning his weight on each and all 

 indifferently, with one glance at the horse in profile the 

 side examination may be held as complete and satisfiictory. 

 That glance will ascertain whether the posterior outline of 

 the hock joint is nearly perpendicular, or whether it is an- 

 gular or has a convex curvilinear protubei-ance immedi- 

 ately above the commencement of the shank bone. This 

 curvilinear protuberance, if large, is a curb which will pro- 

 duce lameness, though not of an incurable sort ; if not large, 

 it is either the trace of a curb which has been cured, but 

 may at any time return, or an indication of tendency to 

 throw out curbs, on being put to hard work, especially in 

 heavy ground. Horses which have been curbed, or which 

 have curbed-shaped hocks, are generally to be avoided ; 

 but, as it is generally colts which throw out curbs, when first 

 put to hard w'ork, an old horse which has done his share of 

 work without having been actually curb:d, is not to be ab- 

 solutely rejected because he has what are commonly called 

 curb}^ hocks; for, that he has not yet thrown them out, 

 under the stress of his early hard work, is, to a certain ex- 

 tent, security that he will not do so now. Had the tendency 

 been strong it would probably have developed itself al- 

 ready. 



The side examination finished, the observer should sta- 

 tion himself opposite to the head of the horse, and see that 

 in this point of view also the horse, standing or moving, 

 stands and moves with all his legs perpendicularly under 

 him. Not to do so does not, it is true, indicate disease, 

 but it indi.^atcs malformation, inducing awkwardness and 



