THE ACT OF STANDING. 121 



The act we have been considering I shall denominate the stand- 

 ing posture, to distinguish it from two other acts of standing, one of 

 which I shall call the natural standing position, the other the arti- 

 ficial standing position. 



The STANDING POSTURE is that into which the horse throws 

 himself for ease or repose, and in which one of the limbs continues 

 in a state of flexion or absolute rest, and this almost invariably a 

 hind one, while the remaining three are maintained in a state of 

 extension ; the fore legs being commonly sloped backward, as when 

 the horse is said to be " standing over," that being the position — 

 and not the perpendicular one — which to them appears to confer the 

 greatest ease. In some rare instances horses — such as are " stilty 

 before" — will stand with their fore legs advanced or stretched for- 

 ward underneath them. It is by no means uncommon to find 

 horses (that are not lame) standing, from habit, with one fore leg 

 advanced in this manner, while the other is receded rather; and 

 when this is done it is always the hind leg of the opposite side 

 that is flexed ; the animal from time to time reversing this position 

 of his limbs, unless it be that his foot is pointed from pain or un- 

 easiness, and then the same leg is kept in advance. So, under 

 ordinary circumstances, first one hind limb is thrown into flexion, 

 then the other, and in this manner are both recruited by rest : the 

 fore limbs obtaining their repose, standing, by being carried back- 

 ward out of the perpendicular, and by the dependency of the head 

 and neck, which brings the scapulae more upright, and throws all 

 the weight possible upon the posterior parts of the leg where the 

 elastic supporters are placed. When we were examining the fet- 

 lock joint, we found that the sesamoid bones supported a proportion 

 of the superincumbent weight, and that this proportion was greater 

 or less, depending on the construction of this joint and of the 

 pasterns : we now find that it will be greater when the animal is 

 standing over at rest than when his limbs are placed perpendicu- 

 larly under him; and this is the reason of his placing himself in this 

 posture. In this position the suspensory ligaments will be called 

 into greater action, and consequently there will be a less demand 

 for muscular force. The dependent position of the head shews the 

 same thing : the muscles of the neck having to sustain the weight 

 of it at the end of a long lever, become in a great measure re- 



