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Sprain of the Flexor Tendons. 

 (Clap of the Back Sinews.) 



So prominent in the minds of horse persons stands this accident 

 beyond all others, that when a horse is said to be " sprained," 

 without any question being asked, the " back sinews," it is taken 

 for granted, is the seat of injury ; and those of the /ore leg in par- 

 ticular. Out of two facts like these two questions naturally 

 arise : — one is, what ns the reason why the flexor tendons fail so 

 much more frequently than others?— another, why those of the fore 

 limb should fail rather than the flexor tendons of the hind leg ] 



I have more than once had occasion to direct attention to the 

 important functions performed by the hind limbs in the acts of 

 progression, and to contrast these with the comparatively light 

 duties of the fore limbs. While one, like a pair of oars at work 

 in a boat, are plying forwards and backwards, forcing the body 

 onward; the other, more like stilts, are employed in sustaining 

 the propelled parts, lest the body fall forward to the ground. I 

 have likewise afore observed, that two such different functions 

 necessarily distress different parts of the limbs ; the hock being 

 the part most exerted in the hind, the feet and legs the parts 

 most tried in the fore limbs. What distresses the sinews of the 

 fore limbs so much is the extreme distention, almost preternatural, 

 to which these legs are put in hard galloping and leaping every 

 time the weight of the body descends upon them, at a moment when 

 they are stretched out to their uttermost, as they must be, to 

 receive it; and it is in this identical position of limb, whenever 

 any weight or force of extraordinary amount, or in any sudden or 

 unexpected manner, descends upon it, that strain or sprain is 

 produced. 



To Causes, therefore, which put the sinews to such trials of 

 their strength and tenacity are we to look for illustration. 

 Hunters and racers, and steeple-chace horses, and such like, are 

 the especial subjects of sprained legs. Horses ridden on the road, 

 or as hackneys, are oftener lame from foot disease. Military 

 horses are more frequently lamed in their feet than in their legs ; 



