ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 209 



In trying a horse for lameness, he is trotted on hard, 

 smooth ground. If, in trotting, the weight is held on one diag- 

 onal pair longer than on the other, it is because bearing the 

 weight on the latter pair is painful, and the horse transfers it as 

 quickly as possible to the sound pair. The lameness is thus 

 located in one of the two legs. 



The front legs, in addition to bearing their share of the 

 weight of the body, must support, unaided, the weight of the 

 head. When a horse raises his head, he shortens the lever-arm, 

 the neck, and thus throws the center of gravity of his body 

 further back. This relieves the forelegs of part of their load 

 and puts it on the hind legs. By lowering the head the lever- 

 arm is lengthened, the center of gravity comes forward, and the 

 front legs relieve the hind ones of part of their burden. So, 

 having located the lameness in one pair of legs, if, when that 

 pair is supporting the body, the head is down, the lameness is 

 behind; if the head is up, the lameness is in front. 



If he is lame in both hind or both front legs, he will travel 

 in a stilty, stiff manner, and will, when lame in front, keep his 

 head higher, and when lame behind, lower, than is his natural 

 poise when at rest. 



A horse usually turns on his front feet. If he is quickly 

 turned and is noticed to dwell more on one foot than on another, 

 it is an indication of unsoundness in the favored foot. This test 

 will sometimes assist in locating obscure cases of lameness 

 in front. 



If, after noticing these irregularities of action on hard 

 ground, the horse is trotted on soft ground, and he travels true, 

 the suspicion that he is unsound, and lame in consequence, is 

 confirmed. If, on the contrary, he has the same peculiarity of 

 gait, the irregularity is probably due to his conformation or to 

 some habit. 



Unsoundness in front may sometimes not be detected in 

 the horse's action, when his attitude while at rest will give a 

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