120 ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 



Stringhalt is an involuntary jerking up of the hind leg 

 (usually), bending the diseased member more than the sound 

 one. It presents many phases, sometimes showing at the walk 

 only, sometimes at the trot only, sometimes at all gaits. Its 

 cause is unknown. It is very unsightly, is incurable, and usually 

 increases with age. 



In conformation the hind leg should be powerful, without 

 being clumsy. The croup should be concave, viewed from side 

 or rear, and th^ hips not prominent. The tail should be carried 

 away from the buttocks, and should not prolong the curve of 

 the croup. It is noteworthy that a horse possessing courage 

 and mettle always carries his tail well up until utterly exhausted. 

 When his tail drops, while he is in motion, it is a warning to 

 rest him. 



Viewed from the rear, there should be a slight concavity 

 between the hips and the stifle, and the stifles should be slightly 

 wider apart than the hips. If the hips are wider than the stifles, 

 and prominent, they are said to be ragged. From the stifle to 

 the hocks, the legs should converge, and the curve of the gaskin 

 should be clean-cut and pronounced (Figure 75) . The tibia should 

 be — ^or should appear to be — very long, and the hocks low, to 

 get great power. The upper bone of the hock — the os calcis — 

 should be pronounced. 



For saddle-horses, the hind legs should be "under the 

 croup" — that is, a line dropped from the point of the croup 

 should pass along the cannon, from hock to fetlock, or near it. 

 The legs, from the hock to the ground, should be parallel and 

 straight. If the hocks are nearer together than the fetlocks, 

 the horse is cow-hocked if the hocks are wider apart than 

 the fetlocks, he is said to be open behind. When the cannon 

 slopes to the front from hock to pastern, the horse is sickle- 

 hocked. All of these conditions are objectionable. 



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