20 THE HORSE 



from behind should be straight (Plate I. Fig. 5), 

 and turn neither in nor out when the animal is 

 walking. "Covr" hocks (hocks in which the 

 points turn in — Plate I. Fig. 4) are very common 

 in hill ponies and horses with pony blood ; but 

 beyond being unsightly they are not a serious fault, 

 and are infinitely to be preferred to the opposite 

 fault of hocks turned too much out. Horses which 

 turn their hocks out give a peculiar " ^vi^ench " to 

 the hind leg when walking. The line from the 

 back of the leg from hock to pastern should be 

 straight, and the front of the hock, when viewed 

 from the side, should run almost imperceptibly 

 down, if the hock is well let down and the bone 

 below it large. 



The same may be said of the leg below the 

 knee. The straight er the line of the back of the 

 leg (the absence of a " tied-in " condition below 

 the knee), the better the leg may be considered. 

 The leg should have great width when viewed 

 from the side, and the tendons should be plainly 

 visible beneath the skin in a well-bred animal. 

 Horses sometimes stand over at the knees (Plate 

 II. Fig. 7), and when not tem^porarily due to 

 overwork, this formation is an indication of in- 

 sufficient development of the large muscle on the 



