The points of the horse : a familiar treatise on equine conformation . keep frequently changingit. The danger of falling backwards which the animal incurs,if he gets too erect, will naturally help to deter him from tryingto assume a comparatively vertical position. Hence, he willhave to keep the joints of his hind limbs more bent thanif he was not exposed to this risk of falling backwards. The hocks are particularly liable to injury from rearing,owing to the great strain thrown on them when the animalassumes an upright position. Curbs and other enlarge-ments are of frequent occurrence among ci
The points of the horse : a familiar treatise on equine conformation . keep frequently changingit. The danger of falling backwards which the animal incurs,if he gets too erect, will naturally help to deter him from tryingto assume a comparatively vertical position. Hence, he willhave to keep the joints of his hind limbs more bent thanif he was not exposed to this risk of falling backwards. The hocks are particularly liable to injury from rearing,owing to the great strain thrown on them when the animalassumes an upright position. Curbs and other enlarge-ments are of frequent occurrence among circus horses whichare trained to walk on their hind legs. 92 STATIONARY MOVEMENTS OF THE HORSE. Kicking.—The term kick is usually restricted to a blow-given by one or both hind legs {see Fig. ^Z). A horse issaid to strike out with one or both fore legs. We mayregard both these movements as kicks. A horse can kick in three ways: (i) To the rear withone or both hind legs ; (2) to the front with a hind leg; and(3) to the front with one or both fore legs. Unlike horned. Fig. 38.—Kicking. cattle, a horse is unable, without moving the body, to kick toone side, except to a slight extent, owing to the presence of aligament which connects the thigh bone to the pelvis, andwhich greatly restricts the side action of the limb. If a horse,therefore, wants to kick a man who is standing a little awayfrom its side, it will have to turn round to do so. For thisreason, if a person wishes to stand in safety by the side of ahorses hind quarters, as for instance when examining its KICKING. 93 hocks, he should get an assistant to stand on the same side,and to draw the head round to it a Httle, so that the animalwill not be able to turn round to kick if so inclined. If thehorse be a vicious kicker, the advisability of getting the foreleg of the side at which one is standing, held or tied up, willbe self-suggestive to any one who has had experience withhorses. The forward kick with a hind leg (calle
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