38 ESSAYS ON HORSE SUBJECTS 



and wide chest is apt to roll ; the one that stands 

 with his forefeet placed wide apart, straddles; 

 the knock-kneed one, as well as the one that toes- 

 in, generally dishes, while the horse that toes-out, 

 winds in. The horse with his hocks wide apart 

 and feet close together, "screws" his hocks out- 

 wards and usually "plaits." When the hocks are 

 placed behind instead of under the quarters there 

 is likely to be a dragging movement of the hind 

 legs. It is therefore true that faulty progression 

 is usually determinable by conformation. Defec- 

 tive conformation of the legs shows itself with 

 almost unvarying regularity in its effect upon 

 the action. In order to have straight, undeviat- 

 ing action a horse must flex and extend his legs 

 during progression in a line parallel to the long 

 axis of the body. The knock-kneed, bow-legged, 

 or even calf -kneed horse cannot do this, and con- 

 sequently experiences the ill-results of loss of 

 time and power in progression. 



Apart altogether from the question of the de- 

 gree of the lightness or heaviness of the step, the 

 manner in which the feet are placed on the groimd 

 has a great influence in determining wear and 

 tear, and is consequently an important point to 

 study. The horse that toes-in usually has the 

 inside quarter of his forefeet defectively devel- 

 oped, which becomes more marked if he is not 

 rationally shod. This defect of formation of the 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



