DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 419 



rest upon their heek. In attempting to turn either to the right or 

 left he allows his head to be drawn to the one side to its full extent 

 before moving, then makes his hind feet the axis around which the 

 forward ones describe a shuffling circle. 



In a majoritj'^ of cases of laminitis in the fore feet the animal per- 

 sists in standing until he is nearly recovered. In other cases he as 

 persistently lies, standing onl}^ when necessity seems to compel it, 

 and then for as short a time as possible. If the recumbent position is 

 once assumed, the relief experienced tempts the patient to seek it 

 again; and so we often find him down a greater part of the time. But 

 this is not true of all cases; sometimes he will make the experiment, 

 then cautiously guard against a repetition. Even in cases of enforced 

 recumbenc}^ he ofttimes takes advantage of the first opportunitj^ and 

 gets upon his feet, doggedly remaining there until again laid upon his 

 side. How to explain this diversity of action I do not know; theo- 

 retically the recumbent position is the only appropriate one, except 

 when complications exist, and the one Vv'hich should give the most com- 

 fort, yet it is rejected by very man}^ patients and, no doubt, for some 

 good reason. It has been suggested as an explanation that when the 

 animal gets upon his feet after lying for a time the suffering is so 

 greatly augmented that the memory of this experience deters him 

 from an attempted repetition. If this were true, the horse with the 

 first attack must necessarily make the experiment before knowing 

 the after effects of lying down, yet many remain standing without 

 even an attempt at gaining this experimental knowledge. 



The most-favored position of the animal when down is on the broad- 

 side, with the feet and legs extended. While in this position the gen- 

 eral sj^mptoms greatly subside; the respirations and pulse become 

 almost normal; the temperature falls and the perspiration dries. It 

 is Avith difliculty that he is made to arise. When he attempts it he 

 gets up rapidly and "all of a heap,'" as it were, shifting- quickly from 

 one to the other foot until the}' become accustomed to the weight 

 thrown upon them. Occasionally a patient will get up like a cow, 

 rising upon the hind feet first. Although enforced exercise relieves, 

 to some extent, the soreness, it is but temporary, for, after a few 

 minutes' rest, it returns with ail its former severity. 



Both hind feet. — When only both hind feet are affected, they are, 

 while standing, maintained in the same position as when only the fore 

 ones are the subjects of the disease, but with an entirely different 

 object in view. Instead of being there to receive weight, they are so 

 advanced that the heels only may receive what little weight is neces- 

 sarily imposed cmi them; the fore feet at the same time are placed well 

 back beneath the body, where the}'- become the main supports; the 

 animal standing, as Williams describes it, " all of a heap." 



Progression is even more difficult now than when the disease is 



