176 



THE FOOT IN ITS RELATION TO THE ENTIRE LIMB. 



not at once followed by lifting of the knee, as the limb has 

 first to become perpendicular and then move slightly forward 

 before its total length is diminished. Horses with this forma- 

 tion are liable to trip and have difficulty in recovering them- 

 selves. Fig. 150 shows a limb, otherwise normal, but with 

 excessively oblique pasterns. 



Fig. 151. — Upright pastern and limb. 



VlG. 152.— Bowing over at knees. 



Horses with very upright or forwardly inclined limbs, i.e., 

 horses which ' stand over' in front (fig. 151) and whose shoulders 

 are ' loaded,' are insecure on their feet, firstly, because this posi- 

 tion entails shortening of the base of support, and secondly, 

 because when they slip there is difficulty in advancing the leg 

 sufficiently to prevent the body coming to the ground. The 

 fore-limbs carry more than their fair share of weight, they 

 cannot be sufficiently advanced at fast paces, the toe is apt to 

 catch in the ground and the animal to fall, the fore shoes may 

 be trodden off and the horse is prone to forge. 



Such conformation entails fatigue and wear of the limbs, 

 and predisposes to knuckling at the fetlock, especially in hacks 

 where the body-weight is supplemented by that of the rider. 



Fig. 152 is a more advanced stage of the condition shown 

 in fig. 151. This attitude appears to be assumed by the 

 horse in order to relie^•e the overcharged tendons of weight, 

 though it may also be due to contraction of the tendons or to 



