"Mem." III. i. 7.

[5] Cf. Hor. "Sat." I. ii. 86:

regibus hic mos est: ubi equos mercantur, opertos
inspiciunt, ne, si facies, ut saepe, decora
molli fulta pede est, emptorem inducat hiantem,
quod pulchrae clunes, breve quod caput, ardua cervix.

and see Virg. "Georg." iii. 72 foll.

In testing the feet the first thing to examine will be the horny
portion of the hoof. For soundness of foot a thick horn is far better
than a thin. Again it is important to notice whether the hoofs are
high both before and behind, or flat to the ground; for a high hoof
keeps the "frog,"[6] as it is called, well off the ground; whereas a
low hoof treads equally with the stoutest and softest part of the foot
alike, the gait resembling that of a bandy-legged man.[7] "You may
tell a good foot clearly by the ring," says Simon happily;[8] for the
hollow hoof rings like a cymbal against the solid earth.[9]

[6] Lit. "the swallow."

[7] Al. "a knock-kneed person." See Stonehenge, "The Horse" (ed.
1892), pp. 3, 9.

[8] Or, "and he is right."

[9] Cf. Virg. "Georg." iii. 88; Hor. "Epod." xvi. 12.