THE HOUND’S HIND-QUARTERS

CHAPTER XIV

THROUGHOUT the course of a run, a hound has not only to gallop, but take his fences as they come. It stands to reason therefore that the best fencers lose the least time on the journey, and keep up the greatest pressure on the fox. We have seen it stated that “jumping fences is very much a matter of drive, and has very little to do with size in a hound.” With all due deference to the author of the above however, our experience leads us to believe that size has a great deal to do with a hound being a good fencer, particularly in a stone wall country. We can say without the least hesitation that a small, compactly built hound will invariably beat a big, lengthy hound when it comes to negotiating all sorts of fences. As it is not much good making such a statement without giving a reason for it, we will therefore endeavour to explain just how it is that the small hound proves such a brilliant performer.

The modern foxhound of Peterborough type has been bred much bigger than his predecessors of years ago, and with this increase in height has come undue length of body and waist. Beginning with the ribs, of which the hound possesses thirteen pairs, we find nine of them are true ribs, and four false. The true ribs are joined in a solid framework, and are thus fixed, whereas the first three false ribs are connected by cartilages to the ribs in front of them, and the last pair are floating. The latter end in the abdominal wall, from which point the lumbar region begins. Below this again there is the diaphragm, which separates the chest from the abdomen. If therefore there is undue lengthening in the lumbar region, the power of the diaphragm is weakened, and the increased strain is inimical to the weight carrying capacity of the other organs.

Modern hounds, bred with an eye to pace, often show considerable reduction in spring of rib. As the ribs contain heart and lungs, any tendency to flat-sidedness means unequal expansion of these organs. Well sprung ribs on the other hand allow of free expansion without liability to strain. If heart and lungs are at all cramped, they quickly become unhealthy, and so reduce the working life of the hound.

The longer the body, the greater is the call upon certain muscles such as the broad dorsal muscle, which begins below the shoulder and spreads over the back and sides of the chest, until it tapers towards the loin. With increased length of loin, the hound is unable to get his hind legs well under his body, and the internal organs being spread over greater length, the strain in a downward direction is likewise increased. Thus, unless the muscles of the big hound are abnormally developed, he suffers from loss of power and endurance. The muscles of the loin are connected with those of the hind legs, so if there is any weakening of the former, the hound is unable to use his leg muscles properly.

When we consider that driving power and jumping ability are derived entirely from the hind-quarters, any weakness in this direction must prove a serious drawback to a hound when he is fencing. In order to jump properly, a hound must get his hind-legs well under his body, and here is where the short-coupled hound scores over his long-waisted relation.

The chief bones of the hind-quarters are those forming the pelvis, the femur, tibia, and metatarsal or pastern bones. On the length of the latter depends the height from the point of the hock to the ground. The hind pasterns are always longer than the front ones. The pelvis forms a fixed point for the vertebrae, as well as for the leverage power of the hind legs. Any deviation from a straight line between the Os calcis or point of the hock and the ground, results in a hound being what is familiarly known as “cow-hocked.” This means that he lifts his hind legs higher than he should when travelling at speed, and cannot get them well under his body. Owing to this deviation, the power of the toe flexors is lessened, and there is therefore less spring in the feet in both a forward and backward direction. A hound so formed lacks speed and jumping ability. The longer the femur or first thigh bone, the lower the hock, and the greater the speed. Likewise the more obtuse the angle between them, the greater the power to throw the legs in either a backward or forward direction. The tibia or second thigh articulates with the lower end of the femur, forming the stifle joint. The patella or knee cap, is a small bone attached by ligaments to the lower front of the femur. The more prominent the point of the patella, the slower the hound, because the angle between femur and tibia is in this case acute, and so reduces the length of stride. The muscles of the hind-quarters, particularly those of the second thigh are of great importance, because on them depends power and endurance. It is these muscles which enable a hound of correct anatomical conformation to go the pace, and take all kinds of formidable obstacles at speed. It will thus be seen that the small, compact, and short coupled hound, which has full use of his hocks and can get his hind-legs right under his body, is enabled to fence with far greater ease than the big hound with lengthy body and waist. In addition to having less weight and lumber to lift in an upward direction when fencing, the compact, light boned hound suffers much less from jar and concussion when landing.

Show judges are apt to pay more attention to the fore-end of a hound than to his hind-quarters, but this is a great mistake, for it should always be remembered that pace and jumping ability are derived solely from the hind-quarters. With regard to the hound’s hind feet, these are still much as nature intended them to be, and the judges show no objection, which seems rather curious when we think what great stress they lay upon the abnormal roundness of the fore feet.

Nowadays hounds of 24 inches and over are the first to catch the judge’s eye at the shows. Is it really necessary to breed hounds nearly as big as yearling calves, to bring to hand a fox which seldom weighs over 16lb., and stands about that number of inches at the shoulder? There are few packs of foxhounds which can kill foxes better than the 21 inch harriers in the Cotley, and Axe Vale kennels, or the fell hounds whose height limit is about 22½ inches. All these hounds are hardier, last longer, and cost much less to keep than the big hounds of Peterborough type, and in these days the matter of expense is a very serious one in many Hunts, so that one would think that the smaller and more hard-wearing hounds should by now begin to make some sort of appeal to those Masters whose aim is to show sport at reasonable expense, rather than go in for the show type. The latter of course bring the highest prices in the market, for fashion decrees that they are the one and only standard type. Seeing, therefore, that the tenure of office of the average Master in these days is comparatively short, owing to expense, he must breed to that type, otherwise when his time comes to sell, he will be considerably out of pocket. Talking of jumping ability in hounds, not long since we were out with a fell pack, and when going to open a gate for the huntsman, which formed the entrance to a covert fenced by a huge stone wall, a little bitch stepped quietly out and flitted over the said wall like a swallow. The huntsman evidently divined our feelings, for he turned with a grin and said, “There’s nae wall going to stop her.” Now this particular bitch is under 20 inches, and of a truth there is no fence in the country that will stop her, nor several of her relations either. Bone, weight, height, and a lengthy body, never yet helped a hound to surmount obstacles at speed. In actual practice it is always the small, compact, short-coupled hounds which fly over the walls, and return to kennels with their sterns gaily carried. Granted that drive is a very necessary quality in a pack of hounds, it alone will not carry hounds over big fences. The correct anatomical conformation must be there to enable hounds to use their limbs properly, and this conformation is more often found in the small hound than the big one. Absolute freedom of action is what is required for quick fencing, and the more perfectly built a hound is the greater freedom in the above respect will he possess.