212 THE HIND LIMB, 



below the hock joint, a castor or chesmtt somewhat similar 

 to that found in the fore leg (p. 192). 



Hocks and Knees well let down, — There is no point in 

 the conformation of the horse, upon which more stress is 

 usually laid, than that which may be described in horsey 

 language as *' hocks and knees well let down,'' or '* hocks 

 and knees close to the ground." The cheetah (Fig. 3) has 

 this point well marked. The black buck (Fig. i), another 

 speedy animal, is, on the contrary, long from his hocks and 

 knees. From an examination of the comparative length of 

 the bones of the limbs (pp. 137 to 139), we know that 

 the proportion of the length of the column of bones below the 

 knee and hock to that of the radius and tibia, respectively, 

 remains more or less constant. How then comes it, we may 

 well ask, that the idea of the hocks and knees of some horses 

 being better *'let down," than those of other horses, has 

 gained currency? As regards the fore limb, the answer is 

 easy; for the knee of a leg which has a comparatively 

 short cannon-bone and a sloping pastern, would, naturally, 

 be somewhat closer to the ground, than it would be, were 

 the cannon-bone long and the pastern upright. Besides this, 

 the appearance of a comparatively long cannon may, I ven- 

 ture to think, give the impression of greater length below 

 the knee and hock, than would be the case, were the cannon 

 short in comparison to the pastern. As regards the opinion 

 that the length from hock to toe, as compared to that from 

 hock to stifle— irrespective of the slope of the pastern — being 

 less in some horses than in others, I must say that I think it 

 is founded on an optical delusion. If we examine Fig. 313 

 we shall see a hock which certainly gives us the idea that it 

 is **well let down" ; but a look at Fig. 316 will convey to 

 our minds the opposite kind of impression. And yet if we 

 take a pair of dividers and describe a circle, with the point 

 of the hock as a centre, and its distance from the toe as a 

 radius, we shall find that in the case of both Fig. 313 and 

 Fig. 316, the circumference will cut the curved fold of skin 

 near the groin at the same point! For convenience' sake, 



