182 THE FOOT IN ITS RELATION TO THE ENTIRE LIMB. 



When the angle is above 55^ (fig. 167) the height of the 

 heels naturally increases in the same proportion as the length 

 of the toe diminishes. The same conditions rule in hind-feet, 



I'lG. 1(J8.— T\vt> ieet viewed from tlie side, a, witli 

 foot axis distorted in a backward direction : 

 /y, in a forward direction. The arrows indicate 

 the proper position of the fetlock, wliich is 

 given in dotted ontline. In a the toe and in J> 

 the heels require shorteniiii;. 



Fig. 1(59. — Peculiar distor- 

 tion, in which the os pedis 

 becomes upright, while the 

 sutfraginis is niucli in- 

 clined. 



with the exception, however, that the angle formed with the 

 earth is here somewhat greater. 



A peculiar position of this kind is shown in fig. 169, in 

 which the foot axis is bent, the os pedis being much more 

 upright than the suffraginis, the hoof following the direction 

 of the OS pedis. 



3. The Method of advancing the Hoof 



varies even when the animal is moving on level ground 

 and not drawing a load. In the normal form of the limb the 

 hoof is moved almost straight forwards (fig. 170). The toe 

 points in a forward direction and the hoof is set down flat. 

 But the converse is by no means true, i.e., the foot may be 

 perfectly shaped, the proportions of its various parts absolutely 

 normal, but the formation of the limb, and therefore the style 

 of going, quite defective. Defects of conformation in the limb, 

 though little marked when at rest, often appreciably affect the 

 style of moving. In horses of normal formation the limbs 

 are flexed and advanced in a direction parallel to that of move- 

 ment or of the longitudinal axis of the body. 



When the horse is viewed from behind the hind-limb 

 ' covers ' the front, when from in front the fore-limb ' covers ' 

 the hind : at a trot the ric^ht and left fore and hind limbs 



