THE PASTERNS. 23 



not particular as to appearance, he may be well worth 

 half price : never purchase, however, a horse for the 

 turf, that shows by such evident signs as all these, 

 the combined effects of bad legs, mismanagement, 

 and overwork. To the former sagacious maxim of 

 the three essential bones, my stable acquaintance im- 

 pressed on me another injunction, which I hand to 

 you, with advice to keep it uppermost in your memo- 

 ry : " Never fall in love with thick ankles." A fresh 

 horse, he said, like a French danseuse, is always deli- 

 cately clean at this much-admired part. 



THE PASTERNS, ETC. 



From the fetlock to the hoof should be rather long, 

 but not over-slanting : the pasterns of many Arabs, 

 when long, are sometimes too sloping, the fetlock 

 nearly touching the ground. The short pasterns, 

 even, I have seen too oblique ; and then, though the 

 limb should be otherwise powerful, the beautiful 

 springy action will be lost in a month by the riding 

 of the least heavy weight ; yet, on the other hand, if 

 too upright, the fault is far worse, for the knuckling 

 over will then assuredly soon commence on work, and 

 when it does, he will often evince an evident anxiety 

 to make his nose a substitute for a fifth leg. The 

 pasterns of a horse, for a heavy weight, should be ra- 

 ther short ; but for a light rider they can hardly be 

 too long, provided they are properly placed. They 

 should look small,"'" round, and smooth ; if there is 

 the slightest enlargement, you may suspect a ring-bone. 



* They ought to have plenty of substance however. ED. 



