New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-01-20

that the horse was trying TO leap stone wall out OF
! the pasture and grszed bic knees on the coping,
| or that he reared up in the stable and barked
them against the under eide OF the manger or some
thing ese equally likely to have. happened. Now, q
broken knee from fo if il be healed, is no defect in
itself and produces unsoundness; still, az il Is fifty
| 20 one that horse which has fallen will under
| the like circumstances, fall again, broken-kneed
horse ia 70 be eschewed even than runaway or
kicker And it fifty to one that every broken
lneed borse is stumbler, and that every horse with
white or bare patches on his knees is both broken
lne.d horse and stumbler, should buy horse
with bare or white patches on his knees.
In examining the legs OF horse, the observer
should rst stand with his face TO the broadsde of the
horse az he stands fiat ground and observe whether
he rests perpendculary on all his legs, having the
natural proportion of his weight each leg straighty,
squarey and directly; whether he stands with all
his legs .tradded outside of their true aplomb or
with all drawn together under the center Of his belly
as if be were irving TO stick them all into hat or
lastly whether he favors of his legs ell
Their by pointing forward by placing in any posi-
ton in which 10 weight Ct all very small stress of
weight is thrown upon it. horse may apparently
favor one foot accidentally, from casual impotence
or restlessness He is not therefore, to be rejected
u
to do So he should be constantly brought back to the
original position in which he must bear equally each
FOOT when he be found constantly to favor the same
foot the same manner something be sus-
pected, which gives the horse uneasiness and pain,
though not perhaps sufficient in degree produce pre-
sent ameness. Ii the toe of fore foot be persstenty
pointed forward disease of the navicular commonly
known as the coffin bone, is to be suspected, than
which no worse or less durable disease exists Ii both
the fore feet are protruded and the hind feet thrown
back as if the horse were about stale, he has prob
ably been at some time oundered. II he stands with
all bis feet down together under him. he Is generally
entirely used up and what is called groggy. If he
stands with one or both his knees bent forward and his
legs tremuous or with both his etlock joints knuckled
forward over his pastems, one may be sure that,
however good he may once have been, he has been
knocked to pieces and used up by hard driving and
hard work. However high his spirit and courage, he
can never be but cripple; and, although when he
gets a little warm to his work he may get over the
grogginess, and by dint of pluck aud game work
soundly and well it is but the fash Of an expiring
lamp. His day is over, and his race run. Surprising
the horse now to stand square and all his legs
leaning his weight each and all indierently with
one glance al the horse in profile the side e1amina-
ton may be held complete and satisfactory. That
glance will ascertain whether the posteror outline of
the hook joint is nearly perpendicular whether it
is angular or has convex curvinear prOtuberance
Immediately above the commencement Of the shank
bone. This curvilinear protuberance, if large, is
curb which will produce lameness, though not of an
incurabe sort large it is either the trace Of curb
which has been cured but may at any time return,
indication of tendency to throw out curbs, on being
put to hard work, especially in heavy ground. Horses
which have been curbed which have curbed shaped
hooks, generally to be avoided but, it is gen.
orally colts which throw out cubs, when first put
hard work an old horse which has done his share of
work without having been actually curbed is not to be
absolutely rejected because he has what commonly
called curby hooks; for, that he has not yet thrown
them out under the stress of his early hard work is
to certain extent security that he will not do
Had the tendency been strong would probably have
developed itself already.
The side examination finished, the observer should
station himself opposite to the head Of the horse and
see that in this point of view also the horse standing
or moving stands and moves with all his legs perpen-
dcuarly under him. Not to do does not, it is true,
indicate disease but it indicates malformatiOn induc-
ing au kwardness, and sometimes weakness. knock
kneed or bow-kneed horse, before, is like a knock
kneed or bow-kneed man: if the former, weak and
enuhy Oh FBsi IL iottCiJ Siuh'ny Ao'Sit """i
in the case of the horse almost to interfere or
strike one leg with the inner edge of the hoof of the
other-a very bad and in cases, very dangerous
fault. If, behind the hooks are drawn in and the
shanks diverge outwardy the horse is said to be cat
manned or cow.hocked and this is a serious malfor-
nation, an ungaDly defect, and a cause and sign of
weakness IT, on the contrary the hooks aud legs are
unusually wide apart, that the animal straddles in
going while is decided point of strength, and con-
sequepty no defect in mere draft horse, is yet un.
calmly and against high degree Of speed, especially
in galoper Some trotters of great speed have been
stradders, behind and when this is the case and the
animal is needed for harness only as il is mark
of strength il is not to be avoided, although unganly
for sadde-horse it is decidedly Objectionable, since
il produces style of action which is extremely disa
greeabe 10 the rider.
His examination concluded, the purchaser must ex-
anime the several egs for distinct marks of structural
unsoupdress The chief Of these are in the fore legs
sple nts damaged back sinews and rDgbones or side
bones-in the bind legs, bone, blood, or bog spsvns;
curbs, which have been described above thorough
pins snd as in the fore legs rgbones or side b,nes.
Spcts are small excrescences of the bone, extrudng
lsteIally from the capnon bones, or shanks; they
sometimes produce lameness if near to the knee as
to interfere with the action of the joint or so far back
as TO interfere with the play of the back snews II on
the middle of the bone, and nearly midway between
the knee aud fetock they are of little consequence.
In fact if horse be not lame Of them, they are OF less
importance than generally considered to be the case
They will generally yield to blistering or acupunctur
ing. Still, spemy horse is, ceters pari6us, to be
avoided rather however, in our opinion, because it
shows tendency to form bony excrescences than from
the actual evil that they do. Damaged back sinews
arise from the giving way Of those most important