76 nOV*' TO JUDGE A HORSE. 



shape, hi an otherwi.se powerfully built horse, is not 

 objectiouable ; but, in a horse decidedly cow-hocked, 

 the weight is thrown too much on the inside of the 

 hock, producing curb, spavin, and enlargement of the 

 hock, generally attended by great lameness. 



Bone-spavin (c) is a bony tumor on the lower and 

 anterior inner part of the hockjoint, and is discern- 

 ible by looking, from front, backward. It may pro- 

 duce total lameness, or only a severe lameness, at first 

 starting, which may in time subside or disappear, 

 according to the degree in which the bony excres- 

 cence interferes with the motion of tlie joint. Many 

 a spavined hunter stands his work without lameness. 

 Other horses, again, merely shovr a stiffness at first 

 starting, which disappears as soon as the horse gets 

 warmed up, while others, with, perha])s, a very small 

 bony tumor, are so desperately lame as to destroy 

 their usefulness. Spavined horses are not fit for 

 fast or regular work, as this lameness, producing 

 great pain in rising, prevents many horses from 

 lying down ; and a horse that cannot rest, cannot 

 work. Blacksmiths fretpiently increase the tendency 

 to spavin by raising the outer heel higher than the 

 inner, with the object of preventing interference. 



Sallenders are a similar eruption as 3faUend€rs^ 

 and are located at the anterior bend of the hock or 

 a little below it. 



