48 THE RACE-HORSE. 



the race-horse, (longer than in the hunter,) and, 

 above all, the leg should appear flat, not round, 

 with sinews and bones distinct, and the former 

 appearing to be very firmly braced. The pastern 

 of the race-horse should be long, lax, and rather 

 small than otherwise ; length and laxness serving 

 as springs, and smallness contributing to agility, 

 and consequently to perseverance or bottom. Some 

 comparison will hold good between this point in a 

 horse, and the " small of the leg,'"* as it is called, 

 of a man, in contradistinction to the calf. Under 

 the pressure of fatigue, no man complains of the 

 '^ small oi his lear'' sivins: him uneasiness, but his 

 calves often give him notice that he has done too 

 much. The hoof of the race-horse should be of 

 moderate size, in proportion with the leg above. 



We have already alluded to the bone of the 

 thorough-bred horse, which much exceeds that of 

 any other variety of this animal in its compactness 

 and solidity ; which qualities, as the span in the 

 gallop must give a shock in proportion to its length, 

 are admirably adapted to the race-horse. We can- 

 not say of him, what Job said of the behemoth, 

 that " his bones are like bars of iron ;" yet, as in 

 proportion to the muscular power of the animal, is 

 the dense quality of the bone, that of the race- 

 horse need not, nor should not, be large. Expe- 

 rience teaches us, that bones very rarely break ; 

 fractures, when they do occur in racing, being 

 almost invariably in the joints ; and rather small 

 bone in the leg of a race-horse, supported by broad 

 and well-braced sinews and tendons, placed distinct 



