IN SEARCH OF A HORSE. 121 



that synovial secretion which lubricates the joint ; 

 hence the joint becomes inflamed, and, as is common- 

 ly the case in inflammatory disorders of the bones, a 

 deposit of ossified matter is formed, and an anchy- 

 losis, or permanent rigidity of the joint ensues. 

 The same gentleman to whom I have referred at 

 page 114, has expressed to me his dissent from this 

 explanation. I have such a high opinion of his 

 practical knowledge, as a veteran sportsman, that I 

 think myself bound in candor to mention this ; but 

 till I receive some more scientific explanation, I feel 

 compelled to adhere to my own. If, in the inflam- 

 matory stage, the usual antiphlogistic remedies are 

 administered, the disease may be checked; but till 

 the spavin is actually produced, and its presence 

 detected by outward symptoms, the horse is rarely 

 put under veterinary care, for the very reason I 

 have given — that so few people attach importance to 

 casual lameness behind. 



My business, however, is not to write a treatise 

 on farriery, but to caution purchasers ; and I must 

 return to it. The presence of a spavin is detected 

 at once in its advanced state by the stiff*ness of the 

 joint, and the lameness of the horse, especially at 

 11* 



