io THE MORGAN HORSE 



ground they may have greater speed, but they are very liable to stumble, and 

 are usually low-headed and heavy in hand. The fore legs, upon which mainly 

 depend the safety and ease of the animal's movements, should be well spread 

 at the chest, to give ample room for the full development and action of the 

 vital organs. Measured at the chest, they should be a little wider, from out- 

 side to outside, than at the pasterns ; but this difference should be owing to 

 the prominence of the muscles of the forearm, more than to the general in- 

 clination of the legs inward, or towards each other. This general inclination 

 of the fore legs towards each other must be slight and barely noticeable, as 

 much deviation from the perpendicular is a serious defect. The legs must 

 be straight, bending neither outward nor inward at the knee, for all horses 

 with such limbs have imperfect action, are inclined to cut (or interfere) and 

 travel either upon the inside or outside of the foot. The forearm should be long, 

 and, viewed from the side, should be wide at the top, tapering gradually to the 

 knee, with the muscles swelling out plump and full, particularly in front. 

 The knees should be wide and flat, free from flesh, clean and compact, with 

 the hinder bone prominent. The knees being less liable to injury than the 

 hocks, too little attention is generally paid to their form, and provided they are 

 not ' sprung ' the purchaser is generally satisfied. The cannon, or the bone 

 between the knee and fetlock, should be short and free from meat ; the back 

 sinews should be large and flinty, and should stand well out from the bone. 

 Viewed from the front, the legs should be thin ; viewed from the side, 

 they should be wide and sinewy. The contrary formation, or ' tied-in back 

 sinews', is a very serious defect, and it is almost impossible that horses 

 with this conformation should be capable of great endurance. The fetlock 

 should not be round, but rather wide, and thicker in front than behind. The 

 pasterns should be short, not upright nor very sloping, for if upright, the 

 joints will be liable to injury from the concussion attending every step ; and 

 if, on the other hand, long and sloping, it denotes weakness. 



"Mr. Hinds, in his works on Farriery, says : 'Horses having long and slop- 

 ing pasterns soon tire, and I may say are generally weak, having the flexor 

 tendon or back sinews considerably relaxed'. It is impossible to describe 

 exactly what should be the length and slope of the pasterns. In horses in- 

 tended for very fast work the pasterns should be moderately long and sloping, 

 as it gives more elasticity to the step and ability to take a long stride. Large 

 horses should have more sloping pasterns than smaller ones, as their greater 

 weight will add to the concussion in traveling. The hoof should be nearly 

 round, open at the heel, smooth and hard but not brittle, without any bunches 

 or depression, in front or at the quarters ; should be straight in front from 

 the hair to the toe, and not be too high behind. 



" The shoulders should be long and oblique, thin and flat at the withers, 

 the point pretty low and well forward. They can hardly be too oblique for 

 the road horse, and are not objectionable except when the horse is wanted 

 for heavy and constant draught. The hips should be long, wide and muscu- 

 lar, the croup a little sloping, the quarters full, wide at the stifle, the stifle- 



