SPAVIN. 1003 



removal of lameness, as well as those, on the other hand, which are 

 likely to prevent it. The occurrence of spavin in young animals 

 which have not done much work points to a strong hereditary pre- 

 disposition, and naturally gives an unfavourable cast to the prognosis. 

 In such animals the lameness may disappear for a time, but returns 

 immediately work is resumed. On the other hand, spavin lameness 

 first developed at an advanced age is not likely to disappear, as 

 reparative processes are then sluggish. 



Prognosis, though to some extent guided by the facts given, 

 is always uncertain. It is never possible to say confidently that 

 lameness will disappear, even when the diagnosis is beyond doubt. 

 The varying formation of the hock and of the limb in the different 

 breeds, the uses to which horses are put, and other factors (including 

 errors in diagnosis), lead to the percentage of recoveries being very 

 varyingly estimated by different experts. Taken altogether, they 

 may number about 50 per cent. 



As already stated, eight to ten weeks' rest and suitable treatment 

 are generally necessary for the disappearance of lameness. Although 

 recovery is not impossible, even during continued work, yet a great 

 many of such reported cases must be referred to errors in diagnosis. 



Treatment. Spavin lameness is seldom followed by spontaneous 

 recovery, and the first essential of treatment is sufficiently prolonged 

 rest. Havemann, Strauss, and others consider all treatment useless, 

 but this is certainly too extreme a view, for every busy practitioner 

 must know of many horses which, after treatment, have perfectly 

 recovered their usefulness. The nature of the pathological changes 

 renders cure only relative, for the articular surfaces never recover 

 their normal condition, and well-developed spavin lameness only 

 disappears after anchylosis of the joint. Very often the lower joints 

 of one or other, not infrequently of both, hocks are found completely 

 anchylosed in animals which trotted perfectly sound before death. 

 Practically speaking, all modes of treatment aim at producing union 

 of the affected bones. 



This union requires, firstly, prolonged and perfect rest, i.e., 

 stoppage of all work, and, as far as possible, of movement. Whatever 

 the nature of the other treatment, rest is essential, and must be 

 continued for eight to ten weeks. 



Various auxiliary measures of treatment have been proposed and 

 employed, but they all agree, on the one hand, in procuring rest of the 

 joint, and, on the other, in evoking, in the neighbourhood of the 

 diseased part, an acute inflammation, which favours adhesion of 

 the bones. Anchylosis may be assisted by — (1) Blisters. The 



