THE HORSE- n U YING A ND SEL LING. 601 



for lifting it back and keeping it there, the animal never 

 will be sound. 



LAMENESS, from foot or any other cause, is an unsound ness. 



SAND-CRACK, QUARTER-CRACK, AND CORNS, may each be classed 

 as an unsoundness. 



THRUSH is an unsoundness too common among farmers' 

 horses. It tells of want of cleanliness in the stalls, and neg- 

 lect. It may first be detected at the cleft of the frog. It is a 

 diseased condition of the secretives, and can be detected by the 

 smell as well as by the sight. If the frog is not too much in- 

 volved it is easily cured, and the buyer will need experience to 

 know the extent of injury done by its presence. 



CONTRACTION is not necessarily an unsoundness, but care 

 should be taken to ascertain that there is no heat about the 

 quarter; that the frog, though diminished in size, is not dis- 

 eased ; that the horse does not step short, and favor its feet as 

 if tender. The slightest lameness proclaims an unsoundness in 

 such case. 



The Limbs. RING-BONES are situated above the hoof. This 

 disease is an ossification of the cartileges at the top of the 

 coronet. Until it is seen approaching the heels, the flexibility 

 of the cartilege is not lost. Although it often spreads slowly, 

 and the horse is able to do slow work, yet there is always a 

 tendency to spread, and the animal must be pronounced un- 

 sound. 



SPLENT, OR SPLINT. If it is not near a joint, and does not 

 press on any ligament or tendon, it may not be the cause of 

 unsoundness. The location of it is to decide its character. 



BROKEN KNEES, if healed, may not be an unsoundness. They 

 are a warning, however, to the buyer to look well at the foun- 

 dation of the leg, and see if the fore quarters and hind are in 

 proportion, and the action straight and true. The high, thin 

 withers tell nothing here. The deep, sloping shoulder, thick at 

 the point next the back, is better than the tall withers and up- 

 right shoulder. The best of horses may fall, with bad rider or 

 driver. The cut knee is hardly enough to condemn him if his 

 form and action are good. 



