80 



"WHAT DISEASES CONSTITUTE UNSOUNDNESS OR VICE. 



Chinked in 

 the Chine. 

 Clicking. 

 Cloudiness. 



Contraction. 



Farriers called it Anticor and Chcdfonnder. The Horse 

 has considerable stillness in moving, evidently not refer- 

 able to the feet. There is a tenderness about the muscles 

 of the breast, and occasional swelling, and after a while 

 the muscles of the chest waste considerably {(i). It is 

 evidently an UnnoHndness, and was formerly supposed to 

 proceed from rheumatism ; but now, according to later 

 opinions {h), Chestfounder is pronounced to be the result 

 of navicular disease, which, preventing the forelegs from 

 being exercised to the same extent as before, produces an 

 absorption of the muscles of the chest. Anh'cor is dis- 

 tinguished from Chesffoimder, and declared to be an abscess 

 of the breast of the brisket. 



But where an action was brought on the warranty of 

 a Horse, and the plaintiff obtained a verdict on the ground 

 that the Horse was Chestfoinidcrcd, the Court of Common 

 Pleas refused to grant a new trial on the grounds that 

 there was no known disease to constitute such an Unsound- 

 ness, or that the defendant was taken by surprise, the 

 plaintiff having before trial refused to inform him of the 

 cause or nature of the Unsoundness (c). 



For Chinlied in the Chine, see Broken-backed {d). 



As to Clicking, see Overreach {e). 



Cloudiness of the Eye is an Unsoundness, as it is almost 

 quite sure to proceed to complete Opacity of the Lens, 

 Cataract and Blindness (/). 



In Contraction the foot loses its healthy circular form ; 

 it increases in length, and narrows in the quarters, par- 

 ticularly at the heel ; the frog is diminished in width ; 

 the sole becomes more concave ; the heels higher, and 

 lameness, or at least a shortened and feeling action, en- 

 sues. It seems there is nothing in the appearance of the 

 feet which would enable a person to decide when Con- 

 traction is, or is not, destructive to the natui'al usefulness 

 of the animal ; but it is indicated by his manner of going, 

 and his capability for work. Lameness usually accom- 

 panies the beginning of Contraction ; it is the invariable 

 attendant on rapid Contraction, but it does not always 

 exist when the wiring in is slow or of long standing. 

 Contraction may be caused by neglect of paring, by 



(a) Lib. U. K. "The Horse," 

 171. 



{b) Lib. U. K. "The Horse," 

 Ed. 1862, App. 491. 



(c) Alterburt/ 

 Moore, 32. 



{d) Broken-backed, ante. 

 {e) Overreach, post. 

 (/) Blindness, ante. 



Fairmanner, 8 



