DUTIES OF THE FORE LIMB. 207 



should move in harmony together, it will at first be more 

 profitable to study them collectively than particularly. 



Chief Duties of the Fore Limb are^(i) to support 

 weight ; (2) to resist the injurious effects of " work " on its 

 own structures ; (3) to preserve the stability of the body ; (4) 

 to propel the body forward or backward ; and (5) to raise the 

 forehand. 



To support weight, the horse requires bones and muscles 

 strong in proportion to the nature and amount of work to be 

 done, a more or less straight condition of the bones, and a 

 shoulder blade sufficiently large for the muscles which attach 

 it to the trunk, and whose size is a measure of their 

 strength. The comparative straightness of the column of 

 bones will be largely affected by considerations of propulsion 

 and of the effect of work on the legs. In all cases, the bones 

 at the knee should be straight. 



To resist the injurious effect of ''work'' on its strnc- 

 tiires, the bones of the shoulder and pastern (at each respec- 

 tive end of the limb) should be placed obliquely, if the 

 ground be hard, so as to diminish the injurious effects of 

 concussion, which are seen in, for instance, navicular disease, 

 laminitis, ringbone, wind-galls, sore shins and splints. The 

 obliquity, however, will be obtained at the expense of 

 mechanical advantage. Hence, the softer the ground and 

 the slower the pace, the less sloping need the shoulder and 

 pastern be, as regards injury to the parts from work. 



To preserve the stability of the body, we require sloping 

 shoulders and oblique pasterns. With the former, the leg 

 can be raised readily and freely to the front. With the 

 latter, the danger of catching the ground with the toe is 



