Day 3 of the workshop (see Day 1 and Day 2 in the previous posts) focused on the front end of the horse. Above Kathy is demonstrating how the elbow pops out when the leg is flexed. The horse modeling for us today is a 19 year old part-Mustang. It is fascinating how horses are put together. She pointed out that the lack of muscle below the knee and hocks allows for greater efficiency and contributes to the athleticism of the equine (as opposed to the elephant, who does not have the equivalent of elongated phalanges that the horse does).
She also brought in some bones for us to study. Above is the hock joint. I am fascinated by the angle of the joint, which allows for the movement of the stifle around the barrel. This is why the hind leg is not on a vertical line from the hip to hoof when viewed from the back. Very cool to see the actual physiology in the joint itself.
We also got to watch the farrier work a bit. You could really see the stifle pop out from the barrel when he drew the leg up - just look at the rotation of the hock and the stifle popping out in this extreme position:
I only managed to get pictures mid-day, but I brought the piece home to work on after the kids go to bed. He did manage to get his forelegs on before I brought him home. I am still trying to get the headset and stride right according to my reference photo, which is not the photo seen in the bottom picture.
He is still very rough. I am resisting the urge to try to smooth and add detail until I have all the structures correct.
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