THE IMPROVED ART OF FARRIERY. 271 



it is, that the farrier and groom are so frequently at a 

 Joss for their definition of any particular lameness, fix- 

 ing by conjecture upon any part, attributing it to anv 

 cause but the right ; and to this they are seldom di- 

 rected by any mental information, possessing a very 

 barren conception of the structure of parts, their pur- 

 posefs or their appropriations. 



The elastic part of a tendon or sinew is the muscu- 

 lar, to which, in fact, the tendon is a continuation only, 

 with this difference, the tendon is made by nature to 

 occupy a much smaller space than muscle, for it would 

 look rather awkward to see the muscles of the fore- leg 

 extending down to the heels of the horse, instead of that 

 fine uniform make which the tendons give, and espe- 

 cially in the race-horse: the tendon is not of that elastic 

 nature that some writers have described, but it is the 

 muscular end where the elasticity exists ; this, at first 

 sight, would appear strange, for the injury takes place 

 in the tendon, not in the muscle ; and for this reason 

 the non- elasticity of the tendon and its sheath will 

 rather submit to rupture, and that for want of the elastic 

 quality. These tendons or sinews are strong substances, 

 composed of innumerable threads or fibres, possessing 

 the properties of extension and contraction to a certain 

 degree, beyond which their flexibility cannot be ex- 

 tended without palpable injury and certain lameness ; 

 for by over straining their elastic quality, small as it is, 

 rupture is the consequence, and lameness in proportion 

 to th3 injury sustained. 



To render this idea as clear as I possibly can, and 

 that it cannot be misunderstood even by the merest 

 tyro in horse-knowledge, let us suppose that the horse 

 is going at his best pace on the trot, and in so doing 

 his toe covers a prominence, or the edge of one, w^here 

 the heel has no support, the consequence is^ an exten- 



