GENERAL EXAMINATION 35 



The leg below the cannon should be flat, the bone should 

 feel firm and the tendons should stand out distinctly from 

 the bone. There should be such a feeling about the bone of 

 the legs as to warrant the assumption that it is of a fine, firm 

 texture. If you will compare the texture of a piece of hick- 

 ory wood with that of tamarac or larch, which differ mark- 

 edly in their relative strength, the difference which exists in 

 the bone of horses will be made clear. Although a horse has 

 never been known to break its leg in this region by severe 

 exertion yet the importance of strength of bone in these parts 

 is of high value, not simply because of its wearing quality but 

 also largely for what it indicates. It will be found that in the 

 instance of a horse that has what is generally known as flat, 

 clean bone with hard defined joints, its endurance is double 

 that of a horse showing the opposite quality. In those 

 breeds which have hair on their legs or ' ' feather " as it is 

 sometimes called, the quality of the hair is an index to the 

 nature of the bone. Coarse, porous bone, and coarse skin are 

 associated and the latter gives rise to coarse hair; while on 

 the other hand fine, silky hair is accepted as an indication 

 that the bone is of close and hard texture. The mistake some- 

 times made of considering small bone a characteristic of 

 quality should be guarded against as this is a very detri- 

 mental feature in a draft horse. In heavy horses the impor- 

 tant consideration is to secure as close a combination as pos- 

 sible of quality with substance and weight. 



58. Action— Straight, Regular. The common working 

 pace of the draft horse is the walk and for this reason it 

 deserves prominence. In it's sphere the draft horse is only 

 at times urged beyond a walk so that it becomes a very 

 important attribute of this horse to be a good walker. In 

 criticising the walk of a draft horse, the action should be 

 noted from three points of view — before, behind and from the 

 side. In approaching, the horse should carrj^ his head high 

 and the stride should be regular. The feet should be lifted 



