52 THE HORSE, 



a most onerous duty to perform, and no other muscles 

 can fulfil it in their place. The first two must not 

 only be strong, but it is also absolutely necessary that 

 they be long. The longer the muscle, the greater will 

 be the amount of its contraction, and the amount of 

 the contraction determines the length of the stride. A 

 long aim, furnished with long muscles, is a decided 

 advantage to every horse intended for useful purposes ; 

 and, in particular, it is indispensable to the racer If an 

 animal, however, is doomed to carry a dandy, the arm 

 requires to be short, in order to give a dancmg, pranc- 

 ing, showy knee action, which -^dll attract attention to 

 the fancied importance of the empty-headed rider. It 

 is in this case alone I would advocate a short aim ; in 

 all other instances it is decidedly the better of being 

 long. 



The knee should be flat and very broad. It is ex- 

 posed to frequent and violent concussions, and there- 

 fore requires a gTcat breadth of smface for the pur- 

 pose of affording sufficient room for the insertion of such 

 powerful tendons and ligaments as are required about 

 a jomt composed of eleven different bones. It is worthy 

 of remark that, in nme cases out of ten, the seat of 

 lameness in the fore-leg will be found somewhere between 

 the knee and the ground, whereas in the hind-leg it 

 is almost invariably in the hock. 



The part included between the knee and the pastern 

 is called the leg. It is composed entii'ely of bone, 



