76 THE HORSE IN MOTION. 



muscles, and their tendons act as ligaments, their size being out of 

 all proportion to their use as tendons ; and in the extreme extension 

 of the pastern the strain comes upon both tendons and the suspensory 

 ligament, and extension beyond that in the standing position is effected 

 only by the weight of the body, and at the expense of the elasticity of 

 all combined. While rupture of these tendons is of rare occurrence 

 under the strain thus put upon them, the sheaths through which they 

 glide above the pastern are not unfrequently torn transversely, giving 

 rise to inflammation and adhesions. 



It is stated as a general proposition that the tendons are inexten- 

 sible. This statement requires qualification. That they are so under 

 all ordinary uses as tendons must be admitted, but when they are serv- 

 ing as ligaments, in concert with the suspensory ligaments, they are 

 put upon a strain that muscle is incapable of applying or resisting. It 

 is therefore, as we have elsewhere shown, that powerful branches are 

 attached to the cannon bone to relieve the muscle of a strain it is not 

 capable of resisting. The organic tissue is tendon, but its use in exten- 

 sion of the foot beyond a certain point is that of a ligament to limit 

 extension ; but as a ligament it does not absolutely arrest extension, 

 for it is elastic and allows of further extension after it is put upon the 

 stretch ; or the extreme extension that takes place in the fetlock, to 

 allow the pastern to take a horizontal position, would not be pos- 

 sible. Further proof of this will be given after a quotation from Mr. 

 Percivall, which I shall give m exlaiso, for the reason that the informa- 

 tion conveyed by it is very important, and few in America will have an 

 opportunity to consult his works, from their extreme rarity. 



" The parts sprained are naturally supposed to be ' the sinews.' But 

 sinews or tendons, being both inelastic and (per physical force) inexten- 

 sible, they themselves can neither be stretched nor strained so long as 

 they maintain their cohesion of substance. To discover, therefore, in 

 what part the sprain or lesion is likely to be situate, it will be advisable 

 to submit the leg in its normal state to anatomical examination. 



" If we strip or dissect off the skin from the flexor tendons, we find 

 underneath, between them and the skin, a quantity of loose cellular 

 tissue, cutting away which we come to a close, or proper, tunic of ihe 



