508 



THE DISEASES OF THE HORSE 



would be so called on the front legs often occur on the hind-limbs they 

 are seldom a cause of lameness. There are some horses with what has been 

 called a bony diathesis, prone to throw out bony deposits with the slightest 

 provocation and sometimes with no other cause than the weight of their 

 own bodies. Chargers and other light horses that have been sound enough 



f'^y^i. 



Fig. 91.— Sri.iNT attachiso Internal Small 

 Metacarpal Bone. 



1 . IntPmal small inetaf.iriial bone. 



'J K.xternal small met.icarijal. 



S. Liirge mptaoarjial bone. 



4. 4. IJony growth constituting a large splint, and 



attaching the small to the large metacarjial 



bone. 



^■^■: 



FlO. 92. EnORMuLo tSFLINT, ATTACniNO BOTH 



Small Metacarpals to the Large. 



1. Large metacarp.il bone. 



2. 3. Mass of exostosis connecting the three 



metacariial boni's together. 



at their duty are apt to form these bony deposits when enforced idleness and 

 good feeding combine to overload them with fat. 



The importance or otherwise of a splint depends both upon its position 

 and the age of the subject. Those situated high up and near the knee or 

 backward, so as to involve the tendons or their sheaths, are of serious 

 import, while there is no great objection to their presence if well forward, 

 not long and diffuse, and upon the lower third of the splint-bone. If large 

 enough to be in danger of being struck by the foot of the opposite leg, they 

 are dangerous as well as unsightly, and may bring down the rider without a 

 preliminary stuml)le. Very few mature horses are to be met with that are 



