304 PARTICULAR LAMENESSES. 



be no hesitation in declaring such an assertion to have been 

 made without foundation. Advantage has nevertheless been 

 taken of it, and one often hears sellers of horses declaring most 

 solemnly that a very prominent spavin is nothing but the 

 result of a kick inflicted before their own eyes, and that it will 

 go away in a few days. But a blow sufficiently heavy to cause 

 such a swelling leaves a mark ; and, " not to be done," these 

 gentry often make a small wound on the skin of the enlarge- 

 ment. This is hardly credible, but I speak from actual experi- 

 ence and knowledge of facts that have come under my own 

 observation. Further, I have heard such men confess that 

 such wounds were made for the purpose of accounting for a 

 lameness. The young practitioner must not be misled by such 

 tricks. 



One fertile source of spavin is the alteration of the direction 

 of the leg, brought about by the use of high-calkined shoes. 

 These high heels alter the relative position of the limb, from 

 the hip downwards, and are a cause of shocks of concussion, 

 which are felt every time the horse puts his foot to the ground 

 during action. 



The form of Hock most susceptible, to Spavin. — Upon this 

 point there is much difference of opinion amongst veterinary 

 writers ; some maintaining that short-pointed, compact hocks 

 are generally spavined ; others think sickle or cow-hocks, and 

 hocks " tied in " below ; whilst other writers — more especially 

 the advocates of the compression theory — are of opinion that 

 hocks with well-developed calces are most prone to become 

 spavined. These latter base their argument upon the assump- 

 tion that the point of the hock is the lever of the extremity, 

 and that the parts in front are liable to compression ; the ex- 

 tent of such compression depending on the length of the lever. 

 This theory is self-apparently fallacious, as the lever here men- 

 tioned acts in a direction contrary to that which would cause 

 compression. 



Notwithstanding all these differences, I do not think that 

 there is any kind of hock that can be said to be exempt from 

 spavin, provided a sufficient cause has been applied. Cavalry 

 horses, when the drill and manege exercises were more violent 

 than they are at present, suffered from spavin to a very great 

 extent. " Since, however, the pace has become moderate, and 



