JXTURES ON MOUSES. 
613 
or not, would become considerations of importance to us: since, 
however, we are, in truth, unable to say, from a horse’s action, 
either on or off his back, whether these springs be in existence 
or not, we give ourselves, in practice, no concern whatever about 
them. 
Short straight cannons are most desirable : as I have said in 
another place, length of arm and shortness of leg are good points — 
are signs of strength and action and endurance. While the dis- 
tance from the elbow to the knee can hardly be too lengthy, that 
from the knee to the fetlock can hardly be too short : and the 
cannon bone should be straight in its position ; neither inclining 
forwards, as in the calf-leg; nor directed backwards, as when the 
fore limb, either from the length or position of the humerus, is 
running backward in that manner which gives the effect of what 
is called “ standing over.” The leg in form in the living horse 
should be flat and broad, not what is called “ round the sinew 
should stand out far behind the bone, and feel tense, and distinct, 
and hard ; and the interspace between the sinew and bone should 
give to the fingers the sensation of a hollow , a totally unoccupied 
interval, and not one filled up with soft substance, called, in horse- 
man’s phraseology, “gum.” The cannon bone itself cannot be too 
large, providing there be breeding in the horse; and the only way 
to “judge of legs” is to feel them : by grasping them we ascertain 
their size ; and by feeling them with our fingers we discover most 
surely what the proportion of sinew and bone is, compared with the 
weight to be carried. It is a frequent complaint, that horses are 
“ small below the knee,” meaning thereby that they are deficient in 
bone. In making this assertion, however, we should be careful 
not to be deceived by appearances ; for the fore limbs will, now and 
then, have the appearance of wanting bone and sinew, when such 
is really not the case : in fine, the sole sure mode of “judging of 
legs” is to feel them — “ run the hand down them,” and span them ; 
by which test one man can estimate a leg better in the dark than 
another, by simply looking at it, can in the light. It is very 
common to hear a gentleman say, “that horse is light below the 
knee ;” to which the dealer, who knows his legs to be good, 
naively replies, “ 1 think, sir, if you will feel them, you will not 
find any deficiency there!” 
[To be continued.] 
