102 EXAMINATION OF HORSES 



oblique pasterns. Increased functional requirements in 

 giving rise to hypertrophy usually stop short of inflamma- 

 tion, but when they do not, of course lameness results. 

 When you have no lameness, but have extreme hyper- 

 trophy, which is on the verge of inflammation, you will 

 do well to reject such a one as unsound, and leave the 

 onus of proving that there is only hypertrophy and no 

 inflammation to others. You can scarcely call a house a 

 sound house whose end wall is bulging, and has to have 

 a wooden stay to prop it up. 



Next, slide your left fore-finger and thumb down the 

 cannon bone and feel for splints. Splints most often occur 

 on the inside, but are found on the outside, or scattered 

 over the bone indefinitely. They are — ■ 



1. Of two kinds. 



2. Variously situated. 



3. Varied in size. 



4. Recent. 



5. Old. 



6. Single. 



7. Multiple. / 



8. May interfere with the functions of 



other parts. 



Splints are of two kinds, the first kind being due to 

 irritation of the cartilage between the large and small 

 metacarpal bones at a time when this cartilage is being 

 converted into bone. The second kind is periosteal 

 entirely, and due to excitation of the periosteum, which 



