CHAPTER V. 

 Disorders of the External Parts of the Horse. 



THE FORE LEGS. 



WE come now to treat of those portions of the frame 

 of a horse most intimately connected with his action, 

 and his essential value in the service of man. Un- 

 fortunately these are but too often liable to disease ; 

 and the animal afflicted with maladies of those parts 

 is not only rendered less useful to his possessor, but 

 also less valuable in the market, as the extremities 

 embrace the entire apparatus of progressive motion, 

 and consequently that action in which mankind are 

 chiefly interested in this useful animal. 



To thoughtless and reckless masters, and careless, 

 cruel, and unthinking servants, this noble animal owes 

 many of his complaints, both internal and external. 

 And what is revolting to every humane mind, is, after 

 the poor animals are afflicted with a painful disorder, 

 their unfeeling masters too often continue to subject 

 them to hard work while they are labouring under 

 acute suffering. Let any man who has had a severe 

 sprained ankle fancy to himself that he was compelled 

 to carry a heavy burden, or remove a quantity of 

 stones from one part to another by means of a wheel- 

 barrow, or suppose he were even forced to walk at all, 

 and what would be his sufferings ? The probability is, 

 he would be utterly unable to perform one or the other 

 task. But the poor horse has four legs, and probably 



