I20 CAUSES OF UNSOUNDNESS. 



He now seeks redress from either of these sources, 

 and trouble arises, first, as to whether the hock is, or 

 is not, spavined, and, secondly, whether it was so 

 at the time of sale, and further, as to the time 

 occupied in the formation of the spavin. The 

 question is. Can conscientious expert evidence be 

 accepted as proof of any specified time for the 

 production of bone-spavin ? It is, in the writer's 

 opinion, an impossibility to give any positive 

 answer. 



Sprung-hock. 



The term " sprung-hock " is applied to a general 

 enlargement of the hock joint, and, when the 

 joint is enlarged, it necessarily interferes with its 

 working power, and if a horse has not the full use 

 of its hocks its market value is much depreciated. 



Capped-hock. 



There are several varieties of '' capped-hock," 

 and unless the point of the hock is diseased, or the 

 animal lame, it is questionable whether it can 

 be regarded as unsoundness. In every case it 

 constitutes a blemish. The skin, the bursa beneath 

 the skin, the tendon, or the bursa lying beneath 

 the latter, are the structures usually implicated 



