THE FOXHOUND’S FEET

CHAPTER XII

NO matter what other good qualities a hound may possess, if his feet cannot stand wear and tear he soon becomes a skirter, and his usefulness in life is therefore at an end. Constant foot trouble amongst hounds is a serious menace to the economical upkeep of a pack, and at the same time greatly increases the labour in the kennel. To counteract it, a large reserve of hounds must be kept to draw upon, or else hounds must be bred with a type of foot to successfully withstand the exigences of the going. Wherever you find hounds suffering from foot trouble, you can rest assured that it is owing to faulty anatomical construction, or lack of condition. In the latter case plenty of exercise, particularly road work, will soon show improvement, but no amount of exercise will fit an ill-made foot to properly withstand wear and tear.

If we examine the forefeet and legs—from the knee downwards—of the standard type foxhound, we are forced to admit that breeders of this type have deviated a long way from the pattern provided by nature. The reader may say, “Yes, but years of high civilization have resulted in great improvement in certain domestic animals when compared with their original form,” and to this we agree, particularly as regards general symmetry and balance. In all animals which have been so improved however, we find that the fundamental principles of their anatomy have not been altered; but can we say the same with regard to the forefeet and pasterns of the modern foxhound of standard type? A very slight knowledge of anatomy obliges us to answer the question in the negative, and for those who wish to know why, we will endeavour to explain.

In nine out of ten hounds, such as we see winning honours at Peterborough to-day, we find the pastern short and upright, and the foot round and contracted. In another chapter we have stated that it is an incontrovertible fact that different hunting countries require different types of horses. Seeing that horse and hound are used for the same purpose, i.e., crossing a country at speed, the anatomical requirements of the one are equally applicable to the other. Certainly the hound has only his own weight to carry, whereas the hunter carries a rider, but this does not alter the question.

In the Shires and other hunting countries of more or less similar nature, the hound with short, upright pasterns and contracted feet is in general favour, and its supporters affirm that such feet and pasterns stand wear and tear better than the more open and natural foot, above which is a fairly long and oblique pastern. Bearing in mind what we have said about the horse, let us see what an acknowledged expert has to say in the matter. Mr. T. F. Dale, in his book, “Fox hunting in the Shires,” says with regard to the best stamp of horse for the grass countries, “I have myself a great liking for long pasterns, even so long as to be regarded as weak, and an equal prejudice for work in the grass countries against pasterns in the least degree short and upright. I believe that long pasterns, from the ease and spring that they give to the action, are amongst the points that contribute to the staying power.” Now if the long, sloping pastern aids the horse to so great an extent, as nature intended that it should, why should the short upright pastern be thought superior in the hound? Again too, the horse’s feet are practically as nature ordained them to be, whereas those of the hound are unnaturally round and contracted; and, if we add short, upright pasterns, these tend still more to cripple the action, and reduce staying power.

On the sound grass of the Shires, the ground certainly gives to the feet more than it does in rough countries, but this give is not sufficient to minimize jar and concussion in the case of a horse or hound crossing a country at speed. It stands to reason then that if a horse with properly constructed feet and long pasterns benefits by the latter even on ground that gives to the tread, a hound will benefit in like manner, if his feet are also of natural shape, and his pasterns long and oblique. On level or undulating grass land and stoneless plough, the feet of the standard type of hound certainly wear longer than they do in rough and mountainous countries, but even on the grass they do not wear as long as they should, considered from a really economical point of view. We have already mentioned Brocklesby Rallywood (1843), who was one of the greatest allround hounds of his day, with working ability, pace, and stamina to a marked degree; yet this hound absolutely refuted the maxims of the present day show judges with regard to feet and legs, for he was exceedingly light boned, stood back at the knee, and his feet were compact, but not contracted and unnaturally round. He was a hound that could have hunted and been a runner up for many seasons in much rougher countries than that in which he was used, and it is safe to say that if a pack of hounds of his type were taken to the Shires to-day, they would come out oftener, and last longer than a pack composed of hounds such as we now see exhibited at Peterborough, while as regards pace they would be quite as fast, and in all probability faster.

The hound breeders of Rallywood’s time knew quite as much about the requisite working qualities in a foxhound as do present day experts. If therefore they acknowledged that hounds of Rallywood’s type were in the first rank as fox-catchers, how is it that the modern breeder’s ideas with regard to legs, feet, and bone differ so radically from theirs? Rallywood stood back at the knee and carried light bone, but he was first class in the field, and could stay for ever. Has the introduction of heavy bone, short, upright pasterns and contracted feet, plus a decided tendency to knuckle forward at the knee, been any improvement from a working point of view? We can safely answer no. In this case then, the only possible improvement must be in appearance. Here we must grant that in hounds in general, there has been improvement as regards balance and symmetry, but in the case of individual points, such as bone, pasterns, and feet the tendency appears to be in the opposite direction.

With regard to bone, Lord Macclesfield’s hounds were light boned, and when someone “crabbed” them on that account, his Lordship remarked that he “had not noticed thin legs to break easier than thick ones.” Lord Yarborough preferred medium sized hounds with no lumber about them, and he used to say that “a little powerful hound could last much longer than a big one.” Again, to quote The Druid, Earl Fitzhardinge did not fancy any dog hound above twenty-three inches, and he never cared how small the bitches were. He never liked them shy of tongue, and it was no matter whether they were straight or coarse provided their work was all good. “I don’t care for their looks,” he was wont to say. “Huntsmen forget to breed hounds for their noses, they are all for looks—give me the pack that will kill foxes.”

Here again we have expert opinion from men who were practical fox-hunters, and knew the value of a working hound. With regard to comparison of looks, in hounds of the Rallywood type and those of the present standard sort, this is surely a case of individual opinion. The eyes of those who have been brought up amongst hounds of the standard type have been educated to approve of the heavy bone, round feet and intoed as well as out-at-elbow appearance that such hounds present, whereas those who are used to fell and Welsh hounds, or the old-fashioned harriers like the Cotley, consider beauty lies in the outlines of the light framed, back at the knee sort, with hare feet. The upholders of the latter type have not however bred for looks, but always for working qualities. It is the shows which have been the great incentive to breeding for appearance, and thus we see the standard type of hound has been in many instances practically turned into a cripple, owing to the show judges laying such great stress on certain points which have now been developed in abnormal fashion.

Individual hounds of this type fetch inflated prices at the sales, despite the fact that they knuckle forward at the knee, and do not stand squarely on their feet, but more or less on their toes. It is over development with a vengeance, yet fashion decrees that such a type is “it,” and the prevailing fashion rules the market. If it were not fashionable, but instead entirely work-manlike, how is it that horses which are used to ride to hounds still retain the long pasterns which experts agree add so much to the animal’s ease of motion and staying power? A hunter, with short, upright pasterns, which obtained spring by knuckling forward at the knee, could not cross two fields in safety, and would be laughed at if put up for sale. He would be like the cow-puncher’s pony, whose owner said it possessed four gaits, and when asked what they were, replied, “Walk, stumble, fall down, and get up!”

As a hound’s life of usefulness depends upon the correct anatomical conformation of his limbs, it may be of interest to discuss the matter here. In the case of the hound of standard type, we find him the possessor of heavy bone, carried right down to his toes. Now bone is practically solid material, and the more of it a hound has, the greater weight will he have to carry. Weight means leg weariness, particularly in deep, soft going, and up and down steep declivities; therefore the less bone a hound has, in reason, the hardier will he be, and the more likely to get to the end of a long gruelling run in rough country. As Lord Macclesfield said, he “had not noticed thin legs to break easier than thick ones,” which is perfectly true, so why overburden a hound with bone simply because fashion ordains that it is the right thing to do? A heavy boned hound is analogous to an old-fashioned wooden bicycle as compared with an up-to-date machine. In the former there is considerable weight, while jar and vibration are communicated to the rider, owing to lack of sufficient spring in the construction of the frame and wheels, whereas in the latter pneumatic tyres, coupled with spring seat and other devices, to a great extent counteract concussion. The heavily boned hound, with his short, upright pasterns, and contracted feet, suffers severely from jar and concussion, particularly in rough country, because there is no spring in a backward direction at the knee, therefore the jar is communicated viâ the shoulder and the spinal vertebrae to the brain. In the case of human beings, the majority of our best cross country runners have all been light weights, the big, heavy boned men showing to the best advantage at shot putting and the like, where weight and strength are more needful than activity and pace. In the same way for long journeys in wild countries, ponies stand the work far better than big horses, being more active, much hardier, and less clumsy on their feet. In soft, or rough going, it is the light weight that sinks in least, and tackles the steep ups and downs with the greatest ease. We have seen this proved again and again on the Lakeland fells in the case of standard type hounds running with the fell packs. Such hounds are invariably quite outpaced by the light framed local hounds, when it comes to negotiating rocks, screes, and ground lying at a steep angle. In many instances, the fore end of the standard hound exhibits bone in disproportion to that in his hind quarters. Attention has been centred more on the production of bone in his forelegs than his hind, and the same applies to the shape of his feet, the hind feet being still much as nature intended them to be, while the forefeet have been abnormally developed. This over-development of the feet is said to withstand wear and tear better than the more open and natural foot, but seeing that it is an indisputable fact that the hind feet of the standard type hound require less attention in kennel than the fore, the evidence entirely gives away the case for the latter.

In order to show how breeding for certain points has altered the shape of the hound’s fore limbs, we will glance briefly at the anatomy of those parts as ordained by nature.

Beginning with the shoulder, we have the scapula or shoulder blade. The lower end of this connects with the humerus or arm which is situated below it. Next we have the forearm composed of two bones one behind the other, that at the back being known as the ulna, and the one in front as the radius. The forearm connects with the knee, below which is the metacarpus or pastern, which works in conjunction with the basal phalanges or bones of the foot. In the hare or natural foot, these bones are longer than they are in the club-like foot, while the metacarpal or pastern bones also show length, and lie in an oblique direction. Turning from the skeleton to the foot as we see it on the hound, we find that the pad and heel are thin, flat, and not at all fleshy. The toes, being long, secure a good grip of the ground, are closely knit together with little tendency to lateral strain, and they have in addition a certain amount of play and upward extension. With such a foot, the hound’s weight is distributed along a lengthy surface, the animal standing squarely on its feet. In ascending a steep incline or scrambling up rocks, the whole foot comes on the surface, while in descending similar places the foot comes to the ground on an even surface. The flatness of the pad tends to minimize jar and concussion, in which respect additional aid is given by the long pastern, which provides spring in an oblique or backward direction.

Any vibration there may be is taken up by the strong ligaments at the back of the leg, which eventually lead to the shoulder. If the latter is well sloped, the muscles surrounding it take up the concussion in their turn, and it is neutralised before it can reach the brain via the spinal vertebrae. It will be easily understood that the shorter and straighter the pastern, the more jar will there be, and the quicker will it be carried to the knee, and so upwards. Also, the heavier the bone, the greater the concussion, while the muscles will have more work to do to neutralise the vibration. Seeing that the nervous and muscular systems are closely connected, strain and vibration are conveyed by the former to the brain. Thus, a heavy boned hound with short pasterns soon becomes of little use in rough country, although he can work with comparative ease on level, sound going.

Turning to the club-like foot, we find it an axiom of the show judges that the leg must form a straight line downwards from the chest, and that the shorter the distance from the elbow to the pastern, the better. Also the forearm should connect with the knee joint and pastern in such a manner, that instead of having its flexion in a posterior direction, it should exhibit a tendency to knuckle forward. A limb so formed causes the weight to fall upon the fore part of the bones of the foot, so that the hound stands on his toes. In order to increase the power of resistance, and bring the weight into line with the leg, the foot must be shortened. When this happens, the pad is deepened, becoming thick and fleshy, in order to afford sufficient surface to support the weight. The joints of the foot being short, there is no play or spring, thus the toes have a tendency to expand in a lateral direction. In order to save himself sore heels, the hound uses the fore and inner portion of the toe pad, which causes the toe to increase its lateral expansion. The result of this is the muscle controlling the toes breaks down, and the weight falls on the nails which soon become tender. The hound is then compelled to use the heel alone, which likewise soon becomes bruised and sore, and eventually the whole foot flattens out and becomes practically useless. The breaking down of the muscle controlling the toes affects the band of muscle round the knee, slackening it, and thus allowing the joint to knuckle forward. When this happens the bearings of the joint become rough, thus greatly handicapping movement, and causing pain or at any rate severe discomfort to the hound. Seeing that both muscles and bones are reduced to an abnormal state, the nervous system suffers in like ratio, and the hound’s brain is affected by the concussion. With such formation below the knee, even the best of shoulders are unable to counteract the jar and vibration, so the hound becomes a skirter, and is thus valueless as a member of the pack. On the sound, level grass of the Shires, he may run up for three or four seasons, whereas in a really rough country such as the fells he will do well if he gets through one season without endless foot trouble.

Given feet of natural shape, on which he can stand squarely, and above which are fairly long, oblique pasterns, a hound is more than half equipped towards negotiating rough going with ease to himself. If in addition he is the possessor of a well formed shoulder, he will be able to hunt and run in any sort of country. On the formation of the shoulder depends speed, and to a great extent minimization of concussion. Many of the standard type hounds have a tendency towards upright and loaded shoulders, which means loss of reach, and consequent lack of pace. In what we may term a normal shoulder, the scapula or shoulder blade is laid back at a fair angle, while the humerus or arm, inclines towards the horizontal. With such a shoulder, there is less jar at the point where the humerus joins the ulna and radius, or in other words the top of the forearm than is the case when the humerus is more upright, and the scapula laid further back. In the latter case the humerus is more nearly in a straight line with the ulna, and there is more jar where the scapula joins the humerus, but as the scapula is very well laid back, the top of it joins the dorsal vertebrae at a point far from the head, and thus jar or concussion is taken up before it can reach the brain. In this form of shoulder, which we may term the racing type, the top of the scapula lies more directly over the ulna, thus increasing the spring, and reducing the jar on the humerus. In addition, there is a greatly increased capacity for pace, because the humerus being nearly in a straight line with the forearm, the leg can be thrown well forward, and thus has a long reach when the hound is galloping. In the ordinary shoulder there is more muscle and tissue lodged in the space formed by the scapula, humerus, and ulna, all of which tends to resist forward movement of the leg, while the leg itself is set further back, thus militating against reach and pace. As the top of the scapula is the chief point where jar should be avoided, the further it is laid back the better, thus leaving a greater distance between its junction with the dorsal vertebrae and the head.

The anatomical construction of a hound’s hind-quarters is even more important than that of his fore limbs, particularly as regards jumping ability, so we have devoted a subsequent chapter to the discussion of that part of his anatomy.

With regard to the wearing qualities of the club-like foot of the standard hound, it is safe to say that the great majority of huntsmen, if asked for their candid opinion on the matter, will without hesitation affirm that such a foot requires far more attention after hunting than the more natural hare foot. As mentioned in another chapter, the real hare foot is not a splay foot as some people suppose, but a fairly long, closely knit, shallow-padded foot, akin to that of the wolf, coyote, and fox. Any one who takes the trouble to examine the feet, legs, and shoulders of a fox, will find these parts of the animal’s anatomy most perfectly adapted for the work they have to do. It is safe to say that if the average hound of standard type possessed as good feet as the animal which forms his quarry, foot trouble would be conspicuous by its absence in most kennels.

In “The Foxhound of the Twentieth Century,” Mr. Bradley says, “Legs and feet in the foxhound have been brought to the highest state of perfection during the last quarter of a century. Bone and muscle have been consolidated and will measure against that of a previous generation of hounds; for there is an increase of weight and size to meet extra wear and tear. The modern foxhound has the forearm of a lion, and shows short, solid, good bone from the knees to the toes.” With all due deference to the author of the above, it is doubtful if the heavy bone and modern foot wear half so long as the light bone and natural foot did in the case of Brocklesby Rallywood and hounds of his time. The aim of the modern breeder appears to have been to increase the amount of bone in succeeding generations of hounds, the increase in weight and size being supposed to meet the extra wear and tear. As a matter of fact the increase of bone, weight, and size is the cause of the extra wear and tear; for the heavier a hound is, the more will he knock himself about, particularly in rough country. If “the forearm of a lion” is necessary to a hound, how is it that the light built hounds of the North and West run up for many seasons, and kill their share of the stout hill-foxes?

Speaking of the North Cotswold country, Mr. Bradley says, “The rough going and stone-wall jumping does not favour a heavily-built hound, shaking their knees and damaging their toes.” If this is the case, then how much more forcibly does the same thing apply to many other countries which are far rougher than the one mentioned. Even if we take it for granted that a pack of hounds of the standard type, the individuals of which may weigh from 80lb. to 90lb. or more apiece, is suited to a level or undulating grass country such as is provided by the Shires, surely the upholders of that type of hound cannot seriously believe that it is equally well suited to rough countries such as are to be found in parts of Yorkshire, Wales, or Cumberland and Westmorland. If a heavy hound is unsuited to an ordinary provincial country like the North Cotswold, how would he fare if asked to hunt a fox over Helvellyn in company with a fast, racing pack of fell hounds? He would, we are afraid, be last, and a long way last, when the fox was finally run into. This is of course taking an extreme case, but there are plenty of hunting countries, in fact it is pretty safe to say that the majority of provincial countries, are too rough for the big heavy hound such as we see winning honours at Peterborough.

That the standard type is used in such countries we cannot deny, but is the result satisfactory from an economic point of view? To take one example. We have in mind a certain provincial pack which was at one time trencher-fed, and showed capital sport. Hounds ran up for many seasons, and were seldom sick or sorry. Eventually kennels were built, and the breeding of the pack was improved, until certain members of it made names for themselves at Peterborough. The result of this “improvement” in breeding necessitated big entries, for four seasons proved to be the limit of the average hound’s working capabilities. Can anyone say that these hounds were genuinely improved, simply because they won honours at a show, yet deteriorated in stamina and economic usefulness? This is not the only pack which has undergone a like metamorphosis, with similar results. There must be something radically wrong with hounds that cannot run up for more than four seasons; yet we see such hounds exhibited at Peterborough, presumably representing the standard type to which breeders should endeavour to attain. On glancing over the hound lists to-day, we find that anywhere from forty to sixty five couples of hounds are deemed necessary for four days a week, and from thirty to forty couples for three days. These hounds are bred on the lines of those exhibited at Peterborough, yet we can point to half a dozen or more packs, of from ten to sixteen couples, which do their three days a week regularly, show capital sport, and are seldom sick or sorry.

Fox-hunting to-day is hard hit in the matter of expense, not the least item of which is the upkeep of hounds. From an economic point of view therefore, is it not better to get away from the heavy type of show hound, and breed something which will last longer, and be more suited to its particular country; even though it may chance to offend the eyes of those who appraise show points more than stamina and working qualities?