THE HOCK. 117 



joint may be. To my thinking, this is a very fruitful 

 source of the disease. 



Injudicious shoeing is another cause of spavin. 

 "When the horse is disposed to brush, the smith usually 

 raises him higher on the one side of the heel than on 

 the other. This may so far change his action as to 

 prevent the brushing; but it throws so much more 

 weight on one part of the hock-joint than on another, 

 that disease may almost be said to be the inevitable 

 result. I wish these smiths had the one side of their 

 boot raised an inch higher than the other, in order that 

 they might enjoy the same pleasm-e which they have 

 conferred upon the horse. They would then, especially 

 if forced to run and jmnp, have an opportunity of 

 knowing how long then* ankle and knee-joints would 

 continue sound. 



The perfection of the hock further requires that the 

 end of the shank-bone which joins it should be large 

 and well developed in every direction. When the shank 

 is small, narrow, and contracted, the bones of the hock 

 have not a sufficiently extensive surface to rest upon. 

 This is a veiy frequent cause of spavin. Some horses 

 are so ill-formed here that a person, on taking a side 

 view, might almost imagine a piece had been pared off 

 the front of the shank-bone immediately below the 

 hock-joint. This is a formidable defect, as the bone 

 should be very broad here, for the purpose of carrymg 

 the joint. The greater the measurement, from before 



