64 THE IMPROVED ART OF FARRIERY. 



accident of a very serious nature ; and since it is but 

 very seldom cured, we must consider it very fortunate 

 that its occurrence is rare among horses. It has not 

 unfrequently been taken for a rupture of the flexor 

 tendons, but the great strength of these latter organs 

 does not readily admit of such a circumstance, conse- 

 quently their rupture is even still rarer than the 

 Suspensory Ligaments. If the tendons were thus 

 affected, the animal could not bend its leg ; and in the 

 other case the fetlock-joint comes nearly to the ground 

 in«^tead of maintaining its oblique and natural position. 

 After the inflammation is reduced, a heeled shoe is used 

 by some, which elevates the heel and bends the toe 

 downwards. Bandages cannot be well applied from 

 the position of the disease. Firing is resorted to, and 

 thus in time a little strength is obtained, and the ani- 

 mal may be used when great exertion is not required, 

 for as the fetlock never wholly recovers its natural 

 position, much of its mechanical power must conse- 

 quently be lost. 



Lameness in the Shoulder, 



Is by no means so frequent as some suppose, for it 

 is a very general practice among farriers and others to 

 attrib\rte any lameness, of which there is no visible 

 cause, and of which they cannot give any ostensible 

 reason, to an affection of the shoulder ; and from this 

 many serious results often accrue to horses. The ad- 

 ductor muscles are frequently the seat of this disease 

 when it arises from a slip or side wrench. Some assert 

 it exists in the tendons of the flexor brachii ; and 

 sometimes the scapular and humeral hgaments of the 

 articulations are affected. On the appearance of this 



