4,i 



th-e foot alights on the ground. The periosteum, 

 however, soon adapts itself to the enlargement 

 of the bone, and the lameness will then dis- 

 appear, provided the spJemt is- not seated under 

 a ligament, or a tendon ; for, in that case, the 

 lameness is generally more durable, and more 

 liable to return. If, therefore, a horse be lame, 

 at the time of sale, from a splent situated 

 immediatel}'- under a ligam-ent or tendon, it 

 cafinot be unfair to deem him unsound, because 

 th*- complaint seldom admits of a permanent 

 cwre. On the other hand, if the splent appear 

 only on that part of the bone, which has no- 

 thing over it but the skin, it ought not ta 

 f e«luce a horse in value, because the disease may 

 txe easily removed ; and indeed instances are 

 by no means uncommon, of splents being ab^- 

 sorbed by the spoaitancous efforts of nature. 



RING BONE 



Is an oss^ification, or bony enlargement, just 

 above and mostly in front of the coronet of the 

 hoof Its consequences are an anchylosis, or 

 union of the lower pastern joint, thereby de- 

 priving it of the po-wer of flexion, or, in other 

 words, producing a stiff joint. When the 

 disease has arrived at this state, it is perfectly 

 rpici^rable ; and it may j^i«tly be considered as 



