ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HORSe’s FOOT. 353 
closely related as they are, in function, to the articulations ; 
and here we will find that these offer some most interesting 
and attractive features, not the least striking of which is the 
part they play in strengthening or reinforcing the ligamen- 
tary apparatus of the joints. 
The tendons, as is known, are the continuations of the 
contractile masses of muscle which do not extend below the 
knee or hock, and are, it may be said, the instruments of 
these muscles for effecting changes in the direction of the 
bones composing the limbs. For, in addition to their assist- 
ing* in forming that magnificent suspensory arrangement so 
conspicuous in the fore, less so in the hind, limbs, their 
principal function is as inert locomotory agents, subjective to 
the power of the muscles to which they are united by their 
upper extremities. Their disposition and wide relations with 
the parts they cover or adjoin, as they approach that portion 
of the limb we are considering, are very wonderful, becoming, 
as they do, quite altered in shape, receiving accessory bands 
from powerful ligaments, attaching themselves to subjacent 
bones in their course towards the last phalanges of the 
member, growing attenuated and yet gaining strength, 
until they ultimately terminate in a manner which affords 
them the best opportunity for developing their special func- 
tions. 
The anterior extensor tendon of the phalanges or foot (fig. 
7, a) leaves its muscle above the knee, and after undergoing 
some modifications and losing its companion tendon on the 
shank bone, continues its course over the front of the fetlock 
until it reaches the large pastern bone or first phalanx of the 
limb, where, from the elliptical-shaped cord it had been 
downwards from the knee, it gradually commences to expand 
to a wide dense web that adheres to the face of the bony 
ray beneath, and to each of its sides by two fibrous bands 
(fig. 7, d), detached from or joining the tendon, that pass 
over the second phalanx, and blend themselves with the 
terminal branches of the suspensory ligaments of the fetlock 
(fig. 7, h) ; the tendon then passes easily through a special 
synovial capsule, which facilitates its movements over these 
bones. At the articulation between the first and second 
phalanges it spreads over the lateral ligaments on each side 
and is firmly united to them ; it also contracts an adhesion 
with the head of the second phalanx by inserting a number of 
its fibres around the articular margin. As it passes over the 
joints it attaches itself to their synovial capsules, and, pro- 
ceeding downwards, it receives on each side branches from the 
ligaments already described, which not only strengthen it but 
