328 CHAPTER 42. 



case in spavin and stringhalt. Any sudden " catching up," or " favour- 

 ing," of a hind leg should be viewed with suspicion. 



Lameness " before " is indicated by the uneven carriage of the head. 

 The head will jerk up when the lame leg comes to the ground, and will 

 drop or nod when the sound leg comes to the ground. 



If a horse be lame on both fore legs or feet, it is indicated by a short 

 pottering action. 



Lameness in one hind leg often gives rise to an uneven or " rocking " 

 motion, which sometimes leads an inexperienced person to think the 

 horse lame on the opposite side of the fore-hand. 



A horse suffering from acute pain in his hind feet will place his fore- 

 feet more under him than usual, so as in some degree to take the weight 

 off the part affected ; whilst, for a similar reason, in acute pain of the 

 fore-feet he will bring his hind legs more under him. 



653. Side on which the horse is lame to be next ascertained. 



Having ascertained that the horse is lame " before " or " behind," as 

 the case may be, the next point is to find out on which side the lameness 

 exists. 



The amateur will probably experience some difficulty at first in ascer- 

 taining this, but careful attention to the remarks in the preceding par. 

 (652) will greatly assist him in arriving at a correct conclusion. 



654. If lame before, whether in the foot or elsewhere. 



Supposing the horse to be lame before, the next question is to deter- 

 mine whether the seat of lameness is in the foot, or elsewhere. 



The appearance of a horse with foot lameness is usually characteristic. 

 He points his foot at times ; the heat in it and round the coronet is more 

 or less increased, and in very acute cases there may be throbbing of the 

 plantar arteries. In his movements the horse treads warily ; and in 

 turning he limps more or less. These symptoms of course vary according 

 to the degree of the disease or injury. In cases of any standing, there is 

 also usually alteration in the structure and size of the foot ; and the com- 

 parative size of the feet should therefore always be carefully observed. 



Foot lameness may be further tested by trotting the horse first on hard, 

 and then on soft ground. If he is lame in the foot, it will be more 

 apparent on the hard than on the soft ground. In doubtful cases he may 

 be trotted down hill on hard ground, or ridden, when the concussion will 

 be greater and the lameness more obvious. If he is lame elsewhere, it 

 will be as apparent and probably more apparent on soft, than on hard 

 ground. An exception to this occurs in the case of splints and other 

 exostoses, the lameness from which is more apparent on hard than on 

 soft ground. Unless the cause of lameness is obvious, the foot should 

 always be examined, before assuming the lameness to be elsewhere. 



For the symptoms, which distinguish one disease in the foot from 

 another, the reader i referred to the succeeding chapter on Foot Lame- 

 ness. 



