RINGBONE AND SIDECONE 511 



tlie lieavy drauglit-liorse they become dense at an early age, and to find a 

 mature animal that has been long at town work without some degree of 

 ossification is the exception rather than the rule. Many horses so affected 

 work sound year after year without suspicion of lameness, but in their case 

 the gradual deposition of ossific matter in place of cartilage cells never 

 amounts to inflammatory action but merely degeneration. With others, 

 particularly the carriage-horse and the hack, lameness is a first symptom, 



Fio. 93.— Case of RiNCiiONE and Sidebone occurring in a heavy Drav-ijorse. 



1. Os siififraginis. 4. Complete union by ossific matter between the 



•2. Os coronte. os pedis and os corona, but still incomplete 



3. Os pedis. in the joint above. 



5. Coniiilete union of the three bones. 



and the affection is of much more serious import in horses destined for fast 

 work. Causes are heredity, concussion, and blows, as from treads. Bad 

 shoeing undoubtedly contributes toward its production. 



The Treatment. — While splints, ringbones, and other ossific deposits may 

 be wholly absorbed in course of time, and as the result of excitino" the 

 absorbent vessels with blisters, the same cannot be said of sidebones. They 

 may be greatly modified by similar treatment, and " cured " for all practical 

 purpo.ses, but the cartilage never parts with the bone cells that have been 

 deposited within its proper structure. The diminution of a sidebone so 

 noticeable as a result of successful treatment is due to absorption of the 

 surrounding deposit upon the other structures adjacent, hence it does not 

 make the horse sound from a buyei-'s point of view — the expert will still 

 detect it. 



The lameness of sidebone is not merely the result of change of structure, 



