ii6 PACES OF THE HORSE. 



the Other three. It is also more extended when it touches 

 the ground than is the non-leading fore leg, as we shall note 

 if we compare Fig. 97 with Fig. 94. Hence it is more 

 liable than the other limb to suffer from sprains of the 

 suspensory ligament and check ligament {inferior carpal), 

 both of which structures aid in supporting the fetlock joint. 

 As regards the injurious effect of concussion, it would appear 

 that the non-leading fore leg {see Figs. 93 and 94), by reason 

 of its coming to the ground at a moment when it is wholly 

 unsupported by the other fore limb, would suffer more from 

 concussion than the leading fore. Consequently, I venture to 

 submit that, when the ligaments of the leading fore leg get 

 sprained during the fast gallop, the cause is over-extension, 

 rather than the popular one of concussion, or even of sudden 

 ierk. We may also see from Figs. 100, loi and 102, how it 

 happens that the back tendons (especially the flexor 

 perfoj^ans) of the leading fore, during a fast gallop in 

 " heavy " ground, are far more apt to become sprained than 

 those of the non-leading fore leg ; for these tendons, imme- 

 diately before the period of suspension, have (on the con- 

 traction of their muscles) not only to help in raising the 

 forehand by the straightening of the fetlock (see Fig. loi), 

 but have also to overcome the resistance which the soil 

 offers to the withdrawal of the foot from its surface. 



A horse galloping at full speed sometimes brings the 

 toe of the advanced forefoot in front of the end of the nose, as 

 we may see in Mr. Muybridge's admirable book Animal 

 Locomotion^ vol. ix. Also, at this pace, the angle which 

 the face, when viewed in profile, makes with the horizontal 

 plane more often exceeds than is less than 45°. I may say 

 that, unless in very exceptional cases, it is never less than 40°. 



