THE TYPES AND CLASSES OF HORSES 79 



a side view inclines slightly inward, with the cannon 

 below rather inclining forward, in which case the 

 weight is supported by the back of the foot. Often 

 one sees horses in which the knees incline forward, 

 with the leg below inclining backward, giving a po- 

 sition known as "knee-sprung" or over at the knees, with 

 the weight carried more toward the toe. The calf knee is 

 due to a weakness of the tendons and ligaments of the knee, 

 while the knee-sprung condition is usually due to a con- 

 traction of the back tendons associated with work and age. 

 A knee-sprung horse tires and stumbles easily, therefore 

 any narrow or tied-in appearance of the. knee is indicative 

 of weakness and inferior movement. Knees are sometimes 

 swelled or enlarged but are not often fleshy. The judge 

 should be exacting as to the clean, well-defined, healthy 

 condition of knee. 



The cannon of the horse should be short, wide, flat and 

 lean, the tendons showing well behind. Emphasis is usually 

 placed on a short cannon, for here shortness of leg is se- 

 cured, and this is desirable, bringing the weight of the 

 horse as close to the ground as is consistent with maximum 

 power. The cannon should be wide so as to give a strong 

 support to the knee above. If it is not wide but shows a 

 narrow or tied-in appearance we have positive evidence 

 of weakness. A long cannon, much tied-in, indicates an 

 extremely weak, poor leg. Hayes states ^ that ' ' a thorough- 

 ly sound rule, which is borne out in practice as well as by 

 theory, is to judge the wear-resisting power of a foreleg by 

 the direction which the back tendons make with the cannon 

 bone, and not by its measurement below the knee, which is 

 worthless, unless the measurement round the. fetlock is 

 taken into consideration. It is important to note the dif- 

 ference between a leg which is light below the knee, and 

 pne which is tied-in below the knee. The latter is always 

 objectionable ; the former only when the body is too heavy 

 for the forelegs." Eef erring to this tied-in condition, 



s Points of the Horse, 3d ed., 1904, p. 286. 



