FARMERS' INSTITUTES, 239 



of the limb. Ring-bones are caused by blows, by the shock received while the 

 animal is traveling over very hard ground, by strains from slipping, or in start- 

 ing and hauling heavy loads, by which means the lateral ligaments of the 

 joints may be overstretched and some of the libers ruptured or torn from their 

 insertions on either bone, causing inflammation of the ligaments or the bone 

 and its fibrous covering, and a bony deposit in the part is the result. It is an 

 established fact that tliis disease is hereditary, and all animals affected with it 

 should be avoided for breeding purposes. It has been noticed by some observ- 

 ers that this disease affecting young animals is more frequent in case of those 

 that have been poorly nourished than in those that have had plenty of good 

 food; and I may be permitted to say that I think that poor keeping is a pre- 

 disposing cause of the different diseases of this class, viz. : splints, bone spavin, 

 and curbs ; and even the different articular troubles, viz. : bog spavin, thor- 

 ough-pin and wind-falls. I have often noticed that certain farmers are con- 

 stantly troubled by some of these different diseases in their young horses, and 

 that they make their appearance most frequently in the spring, soon after the 

 horses are turned to pasture, and that tiiese farmers have wintered their horses 

 at a straw-stack, and from time to time thrown them a forkful of hay " when 

 the weather is not so cold and they don't eat the straw so well," as the farmer 

 says, but when, in reality, the horses least need the hay. I am sure that au 

 explanation of the matter is not far to seek. 



After such winter's care, the horses are turned to pasture in the spring, and 

 in a few days, under the exhilarating influence of the fresh grass, commence 

 their races and pranks; and the farmer soon finds his ornaments, if I may so 

 speak, and here is our explanation : The system of the young animal, aluring 

 the winter, has become weakened, much of the material that was in his liga- 

 ments and bones the preceding autumn, and of which there ought to be aa 

 increased quantity in the spring, has been consumed in the winter's ''struggle 

 for life ;" and when the colt feels like play, the ligaments and bones are no 

 longer strong enough to resist the extra strain brought upon them. There 

 are again farmers who rarely find tliese diseases in their horses, and if by 

 chance a case occurs, it is most frequently easily traced to an accident as a 

 cause; their colts are always kept in a vigorous condition, and well sheltered 

 in winter. I have often seen in the hands of those interesting individuals who 

 delight in "trading horses," animals affected by some of these diseases of the 

 limbs, which, in other respects, were the last horses wo should expect to find 

 troubled with any disease; and I am sure that if wo could trace them to the 

 farms on which they passed their first or second winter, the cases, with their 

 mysteries, would be easily explained. 



The lateral cartilages, with which we have become acquainted, arc frequently 

 the seat of disease. From their nature or composition these bodies are predis- 

 posed to alteration, if injured. Cartilage being the matrix of bone, readily 

 becomes infiltrated with mineral matters, when irritated, and we often find the 

 lateral cartilages of the horse's foot in this condition ; they are then known as 

 side bones. They are most commonly found in heavy draft horses, and in the 

 fore feet, and are sometimes present without causing lameness. They are 

 caused by blows upon the side of the foot, and by shocks received while the 

 horse is traveling over hard ground. Horses troubled with side-bones should 

 not be driven on hard roads, and the lioof should be prevented pressing 

 upon the affected cartilage, by keeping it soft and elastic, and the shoe made to 

 bear upon tlie sole of the foot. Horses having thin brittle walls are often troub- 

 led with sand cracks. These cracks, or fissures, may hi in the toe of the hoof. 



