EXTERNAL FORMATION. 73 



clotlied with muscleri, is the desirable formation of this part, added 

 to a well-developed " point," as the prominence at the joint between 

 the blade and true arm-bone is called by the horseman. If this is 

 too level and smooth, the muscles which are attached to it have 

 not sufficient leverage ; while if it is very ragged and prominent, 

 it is a mark of diseased or excessive growth of bone, and is gene- 

 rally attended with a stiffness of the part. Indeed, in examining 

 a shoulder blade, freedom of action is to be regarded much more 

 than its exact position when at rest ; for if you have the desired 

 effect, it matters not (except for breeding purposes) whether it is 

 exceptional or not ; and, as a matter of course, it is better to have 

 a freely-playing shoulder which when at rest is too upright than a 

 perfectly formed one confined to its place, as we sometimes see it. 

 The oblique shoulder-blade is specially required in all horses which 

 come down upon their fore legs after a spring, whether this is in 

 the gallop, or the leap, or the trot, for the use of it is by its elas- 

 ticity to break the jar which is thereby occasioned. The upright 

 form is stronger, as the weight is placed more directly over the 

 column which bears it, but it allows of less elasticity under the 

 sudden shock given by the impetus of the body as it approaches 

 the earth, and for this reason is only suited to the slow work of the 

 cart-horse, or heavy machiner. In conjunction with the oblique, 

 and therefore long blade, is always found a long true arm, which 

 is sometimes so extended backward as to place the elbow absolutely 

 in the way of the girths, and then perhaps may be considered as 

 too long, especially as it throws the weight of the fore-quarter 

 much in front of the fore legs, and tends to make the horse pos- 

 sessing it somewhat unsafe, unless his action is particularly free. 

 This part also should be well clothed with muscles. 



The fore arm or arm, as it is generally called, is not re- 

 markable for any great peculiarities, but it is somewhat larger in 

 proportion to the cannon bone than in other breeds. 



The knee is broad and deep, from before backwards, and the 

 leg below the knee is peculiarly free from that contraction or 

 "tying in" which in the cart-horse and allied breeds is so objec- 

 tionable, being an element of weakness when the joint is exposed 

 to the strains incidental to fast work of any kind. So also a bend- 

 ing backwards of the joint called the "calf-knee," common in the 

 cart-horse, is condemned in the race-horse for the same reason. 



The bone of the leg both in the fore and hind-quarter is 

 small, but of compact substance, while the suspensory ligament 

 and back sinew are so large, and stand out so freely, as to appear 

 to form quite one-half of the leg. The fetlock joints are clean 

 and of good size, the pasterns long and elastic, and the feet though 

 small as compared with other breeds, yet large enough for the 

 7 



