94 EXAMINATION OF HORSES 



to do with; and I remarked his fine open feet and 

 perfect frogs to the farmer who was seUing him. I 

 thought I had never seen two such beautiful feet. On 

 arriving at HaHfax, I heard on good authority that the 

 gentleman's head groom struck the horse on the ribs, 

 and exclaimed, " What's 'e passed sich a flat-sided brute 

 as this for ? " About a month, or less, afterwards, I was 

 sent for to see the horse, and found him a complete 

 wreck. He had thrushes on both fore feet, which had 

 both contracted (collapsed) at the heels, a large bone 

 spavin on the off-side hock, a large splint on his near 

 fore leg ; he was " hide-bound," had a staring coat, 

 and I could count his ribs ten yards off. All this 

 change in less than a month. He cost one hundred 

 and fifty pounds ; and was sent in about a fortnight 

 afterwards to Tattersall's, and sold for thirty-three guineas. 

 I was assured that a thrush was found immediately upon 

 his arrival at Halifax ; but be this as it may, what a 

 frightful constitutional change he had undergone in five 

 weeks or less. 



Suppose again that you really have thrush from local 

 causes; the discharge is so acrid that it has a great 

 tendency to destroy the horny frog — a thing of no mean 

 importance. 



Having now gone through a thorough review of the 

 phalanges, including the foot, I beg to refer you to the 

 place at which we began to digress. 



You will remember we were examining the front of 

 the leg, and had got down to the fetlock joint. Grasp 



