JRECEIPT BOOK. ii 



I mean by hind quarters, the parts from the haun- 

 ches backwards. 



The hock or gambrel ought to be long and broad 

 The OS calcis, or heel bone of this joint, corres- 

 ponds to the same bone in the human subject. 

 The longer this bone is, and the further it projects 

 backwards, by so much the greater length of lever, 

 do the muscles act, which are attached to it. It 

 must be obvious, therefore, that this is a very im- 

 portant point in a horse, and one that ought never 

 to be overlooked. It is impossible to have a good 

 horse, without a good hock. A horse may be a 

 good animal with bad fore legs, but he never can be 

 with a bad hock. The fore legs merely support the 

 body — the hind legs propel it forward. The horse 

 puts himself in motion and performs all his functions 

 solely by the action of the muscles attached to the os 

 calcis. The further this bone projects backward 

 the longer is the lever by which the muscles act, 

 and the greater will be their propelling power. 



The legs of a horse ought to be flat — the bones 

 small, and the muscles large. Bones do not give 

 strength, and when the bones of the leg are suffi- 

 ciently large to support the weight of the animal, 

 all over this is superfluous, and worse than super- 

 fluous; it is a dead weight upon his motions. 

 Bones are mere levers, and the skeleton a mere 

 frame, on which the muscles act. Bones are, in 

 themselves, inert substances. Muscles give 

 strength. All the motions of the animal are per- 

 formed by his muscles. When the bones are so 

 placed with regard to each other, as to give a long 

 leverage to the muscles, such musd s act with in- 

 creased power; and in this consists, in u. ^leat de- 

 gree, the excellency in the mechanism of the horse 



