6 ESSAYS ON HORSE SUBJECTS 



tendons, and whose hocks are inclined to be puffy 

 throughout. If he gets a bruise or injury of any 

 kind to the skin of his legs, the consequent swell- 

 ing is apt to extend and is inclined to remain. 

 Abrasions, cuts, cracks and scratches heal rather 

 tardily. Concussion and direct injury to bone 

 are very much inclined to result in bony enlarge- 

 ment, such as splints, that spread out and have 

 not well-defined limits. Standing in the stable 

 too much readily produces stocking of the legs ; 

 there is a predisposition to greasy legs. The feet 

 are inclined to be flat, large and easily bruised. 



These tendencies show coarseness of tissue and 

 low organization, a meagre blood supply and in- 

 active nutrition. Horses with "quality" also de- 

 velop windgalls and splints if subjected to suffi- 

 cient cause, but their character differs from those 

 of coarse horses in being clean-cut and well- 

 defined and not having the tendency to spread 

 out. A horse with "quality" may have a bog- 

 spavin, but it will show as a well-defined promi- 

 nence and not as a round puffiness of the hock 

 throughout. 



Draft horsemen talk "quality" just as much 

 or more than those who have to do with the light 

 breeds. The difference in the "quality" of indi- 

 viduals of the draft breeds is just as well marked 

 as in the light breeds. Take for instance a 

 Clydesdale or Shire, both of which breeds have a 



