The horse may now be led out, and, while standing perfectly quiet, subjected to a careful inspection as to any alteration of form from accident or disease. In this connection he will require to stand on level ground and be viewed from all points and in all his various parts; from below, from behind, in profile and diagonally, as well as from the front.

Viewed from the front the feet should be compared, to see whether they are alike, or if one is smaller than the other, or whether there is or is not some defect of formation, or a shelly or weak condition of the hoof, or sandcrack.

Carrying the eye upward along the course of the legs the observations to be made here should be concerned in the first place with their direction - are they straight, or does the animal knuckle over at the fetlocks, or stand over at the knees? do the joints show signs of wear or enlargement, or the muscles of the shoulder an appearance of wasting?

Looking back in the line of the quarters the examiner should note whether the hips are intact, or whether one has been broken ("Hip down").

Any scars or abrasions on the knees will also be noticed at this time.

A side view will tend to confirm or refute some of the conclusions formed from the front aspect, and, in addition, it will enable the examiner to judge as to the normal or abnormal condition of the breathing. He should, while here, examine the back for sores, the belly for rupture, and the groin for scirrhous cord. The presence of this last condition is sometimes marked by a discharge which gathers on the inner surface of the thigh, and always by a hard enlargement in the scrotum. In stallions occasionally, and less frequently in geldings, hernia in the scrotum, or purse, may exist, and will be recognized by a fluctuating enlargement in the groin. Other enlargements sometimes occur in the scrotum of the stallion, the result of disease, such as varicose veins, or the presence of fluid, as in hydrocele. A horse having any of these defects would of course be unsound.

The side view should now be extended to the quarters, taking in the hind-limb. Any appearance of " down at the hip" may now be confirmed by manipulation of the part. If this defect be found to exist, the question to be decided is whether the breakage and displacement of the bone is such as to cause lameness or interfere with the horse's services. To a hack or harness-horse it might not be of any consequence, but in the case of a hunter, or race-horse, any considerable fracture and displacement would constitute unsoundness. From this point of view, too, the tail will come under inspection. Sometimes this organ is paralysed and hangs loose and limp, and is altogether incapable of voluntary movement. In these cases the sphincter ani, or round muscle, which ordinarily prevents the escape of the fasces from the bowels, is also involved, and fails to perform its function. Such a state of the parts is essentially one of unsoundness, and the same may be said of an animal recently docked, when, as a result, he becomes the subject of tetanus.

Carrying the eye downwards, the examiner should notice the direction of the limb and should keep in view any defect of conformation, rendering brushing or other injury during action possible. From this point the presence or absence of curbs, and any enlargements about the joints, or in the course of the bones, tendons, or ligaments, will be noted, to be confirmed later by manipulation of the parts. The same observations as were made in respect to the fore-feet should be repeated on the hind ones.

Viewed from behind, the symmetry of the two quarters should first be criticized. It sometimes happens that from various causes the muscles of one side of the croup are wasted. The existence of such a state may be associated with spavin of the same limb, or with some other disease which has caused the muscles of the quarter to be thrown more or less out of use during its existence.