HORSE JUDGING.

Patea Mail, 5 July 1882, Page 4

HORSE JUDGING.

I think the Scotch have the correct grip of the art, for they adjudicate from the foot up, hence are never carried away by a fascinating top line at the expense of the cardinal, fundamental conditions of the horse as a beast of burden. Time is saved, disappointment avoided by this plan. To be favorably impressed with a horse till you arrive at his knees or below his hocks is vexatious, and results in labor lost. Unless a horse is carefully bred at his elbows and knees, stifles, hocks, cannons, and feet, his shoulders, middle, and quarters count for little. His power, quality, and capability to wear in work must be proportionately reduced as the defect or defects affect the above points and their intimate relation to their superstructure. Horses possessing strong upright feet and excessive concavity in their soles, invariably go high and bound, and are light on their toes ; whilst those suffering from contraction, feeling tender in their heels, tread on their toes ; those that favor their toes or crusts—nags with fever in their feet—on their heels. The foot in action must be grounded evenly, firmly, lightly. Horses’ cannons must be straight in themselves. Healthy tendons are fibrous, fine, dense ; when sprained, heat, effusion, tenderness, lameness are the conditions ; when flexor tendons are implicated, flexion of the knee is incomplete—as a sequence horse favoring the side implicated, his knee is kept bent. Looping or archy knee is the result of sprain and injury to the ligaments. Lameness increases with work in the case of sprung tendons. Knuckling behind, standing over in front, are the sequels of spavin. Shortness and breadth of cannons indicate quality and strength. For harness horses, as short as possible, but with no tendency to uprightness or undue straightness of the pastern joints, or roundness of the fetlock joint. These considerations weigh with the judge, and by practice they are quickly gone through in turn, and are certain to prove of moneyed value to the reader, whether breeder or buyer,—R. H. HilHOUSE, in Agricultural Gazette.