DETECTION OF THE SEAT AND CAUSE OP LAMENESS. 327 



Again, a horse, when examined, may be lame from some temporary 

 accidental cause, such as picking up a stone, hitting one leg against the 

 other, or from such like causes; and this lameness may disappear the 

 next day or hour. In all doubtful cases, either as to the nature of the 

 lameness, or as to whether the horse is really lame or not, the safer plan 

 is to examine him again the next day before exercise. 



If after examination a doubt still exists about the soundness, the horse 

 should be made to undergo some rather severe work, and then be put in 

 a stable; and re-examined two or three hours after, when he is quite 

 cool. 



The examiner should endeavour to divest his mind of all prejudice. 

 He should not in the first instance listen to any remarks or fancied 

 opinions of bystanders on the case. He should set all aside and form his 

 own opinion. Having made up his mind that the horse is lame and where 

 he is lame, he should then make inquiry into the history of the case, and 

 glean all the information he can from the owner and those employed 

 about the animal. 



On the other hand, if he decides that the horse is sound at the moment, 

 but learns from the owner that he has frequently gone lame after work or 

 has been intermittently lame, he must adopt further means, such as 

 giving the animal rather severe work, and leaving him to stand in the 

 stable till cool in order to develop the ailment. 



Although certain general rules may be given to aid in the detection of 

 the seat and causes of lameness, yet it is quite impossible to give, by any 

 description, rules sufficient to guide the novice in all cases. No attempt 

 will be made to do more than point out the leading peculiarities of dis- 

 ease in various limbs and structures, which may assist the careful and 

 laborious inquirer in gaining the needed practical knowledge. It is 

 possible to lay down broad and general rules ; but it is not possible to lay 

 down precise and sharply defined rules, because constantly varying cir- 

 cumstances induce such innumerable modifications of symptoms. 



Excluding from present consideration those cases in which an external 

 wound or blow at once indicates the seat and cause of lameness, we pro- 

 ceed to investigate those in which the outward causes are less apparent. 



652. Whether lame before or behind, to be first ascertained. 



The first point is to find out whether the horse is lame before or 

 behind. 



The hind quarters should be carefully watched as the horse is led away 

 at a slow trot. Lameness " behind " will be indicated by an uneven 

 carriage of the hips. The hip on the larne side will be carried higher 

 than the hip on the sound side, for the simple reason that the horse 

 favours the lame side, and throws his weight upon the sound side. The 

 hip on the lame side will also appear straighter, and will be hitched up 

 in action. The examiner should narrowly watch the animal as he turns 

 round after being trotted away. Many defects are more easily seen in 

 the act of turning round than at any other time. This is especially the 



