8 August, 1907.] Lameness in Horses. 469 



erroneously and vaguely put down to hip lameness. In point of fact it is a 

 form of lameness comparatively rarely met with. 



For present purposes "the hip" may be regarded as including all 

 that portion of the anatomy from the loins to half way down the thig^h bone, 

 midwav between the hip joint and the stifle joint ; and having for its 

 most prominent features {a) the "point of the hip" (the anterior spine 

 of the ilium bone of the pelvis) showing out very prominently in " ragged 

 hipped" horses, {b) the "point of the croup" comprising, in the middle 

 line, the sacrum bone and on each side of it the posterior spines of the ilium, 

 the lot forming an eminence immediately behind the loins in the middle line 

 over which the crupper strap passes — sometimes called the " bump behind 

 the saddle," {c), the "rump bone" or "ipoint of the buttock" (the tubero- 

 sity of the ischium bone of the pelvis) which stands out on each side of 

 the' tail and is the most posterior prominence of the region, and {d) the "round 

 bone " (the true hip joint) so called because of the shape of one of the 

 bones (the head of the femur or drumstick) entering into the formation of 

 the hip joint, which is situated a little to the rear of midway between the 

 point of the hip in front and the point of the buttock behind. 



Lameness in the region usually has its seat in either the muscles, the 

 joint, or the bones of the part and a convenient classification will be : — 



I. Hip Sprain, i.e.. Sprain of the Muscles of the Hip and 



Croup (the gluteal muscles). 

 [I. Disease or Injury of the Hip Joint. 



III. Fracture of the Pelvic Bones. 



Hip Sprain. 



Sprain of the Gluteal Muscles or of their tendons of attachment occa- 

 sionallv occurs when a horse's feet slip from under him in a forward 

 direction. There is generally swelling externally above the hip joint 

 which may be detected by comparison with the opposite quarter. Tender- 

 ness may be exhibited on pressure. The horse will not lie down and 

 when standing the limb is held loosely and pendulous with the joints 

 flexed so that the sprained muscles may be slackened and the pain of 

 stretching them avoided. During progression the horse steps short with 

 the lame limb and there is a want of movement of the whole quarter 

 which is carried forward with a kind of swinging or hopping action. 



Treatment.- — Perfect rest and hot fomentations applied three or four 

 times a day are requisite in the early stages. A stimulating liniment should 

 be rubbed in after fomenting, and the quarters clothed so that a " chill " 

 may be avoided. When the acute pain has subsided a strong fly blister 

 (see page 75) should be applied and a full cure encouraged by a lengthened 

 spell in the paddock. 



Hip-joint Injury or Disease. 



The hip joint is a favorite seat for the localization of rheumatism. 

 In such cases the bone surfaces entering into the formation of the joint 

 become roughened or, it may be, ulcerated, and bony growths may be 

 thrown out from their edges whereby the free movement of the joint is 

 restricted. The injuries that may be sustained by the joint include 

 chipping of the edges of the articular surfaces of the joint bones and 

 rupture of the binding ligaments of the joint. The latter condition 

 occasionally occurs to horses on shipboard when the hind limbs slip wide 



