HOW TO BUY A HORSE. 
411 
the muscles, and the defect will be more readily detected 
when he is in motion. If any symptoms of lameness are 
observable, pass the hand over the spot, and heat will be 
found to exist in it, and it may be probably verified by the 
smell of some liniment, which may have been applied. 
When examining a horse, never permit the dealer’s man 
to hold his head high, nor to place his fore feet on rising 
ground ; because, while a horse stands in this position, the 
defects (if he has any) of his fore legs will not be apparent; 
whereas if he stands with his feet upon level ground, if the 
limbs have been shaken from hard work, they will exhibit a 
tremulous appearance, and the knees will be more or less 
bent, and the heels will not rest firmly on the ground, 
as they ought to do. Horses that have been severely 
worked, have the fetlocks of the hind legs bent and relaxed, 
and the natural elasticity of the tendons and ligaments will 
have departed. The horse that is groggy, when standing in 
a quiescent state, will be found in a posture leaning over 
the fore legs, the feet of which will be further under the 
belly than the upper part of the leg, and the entire limb 
forming a flat semicircle with the knee at the extreme point 
of the curve. 
In looking at the action of a horse, see that his fore feet 
are lifted high, and that he completely clears the ground and 
throws his legs out freely and lightly. This is especially 
necessary in a saddle-horse. Horses with a short, confined 
step, can never have good action, and are always disagree¬ 
able to ride. In walking, the knee ought to be moderately 
bent, but only sufficiently so that he may fairly clear stones 
and other objects which he may meet with on a road ; and 
when the foot is set down, the sole should fall flat, so that 
the toe does not first touch the ground. The legs should 
be thrown straight out; that is, the toes should neither be 
