SPRAIN OF THE SHOULDER. 363 



the horse, corresponds with the human vn-ist ; and tlie joiuts below it with 

 the fingers, supposing they were all united in one. 



SPRAIN OP THE SHOULDER. 



These muscles are occasionally injured by some unexpected shock. Al- 

 though in not more than one case in twenty is the farrier right when he 

 talks of his shoulder-lameness, yet it cannot be denied, that the muscles 

 of the shoulder are occasionaUy sprained. This is efl'ected oftener by a slip 

 or side-fall, than by fair although violent exertion. The muscles are also 

 sometimes injured, by the shoulder being' brought violently in contact with 

 some hard substance, such as a tree or wall, when jumping, or running 

 away. It is of considerable importance to be able to distinguish the 

 {^houlder-lameness from injuries of other parts of the fore extremity. 

 There may not be much tenderness, or heat, or swelling, if it is a sprain 

 of muscles deeply seated, and where these symptoms of injury are not 

 immediately evident. If, on standing before the horse, and looking at the 

 size of the two shoulders, or rather theu- points, one should appear evi- 

 dently larger than the other, this must not be considered as indicative of 

 sprain of the muscles of the shoulder. It probably arises from bruise of 

 the point of the shoulder, which a shght examination will determine. 



The symptoms, however, of shoulder-lameness can scarcely be mistaken, 

 and, when we relate them, the farmer will recollect that they very seldom 

 occurred w^hen the village smith pointed to the shoulder as the seat of 

 disease, and punished the animal to no purpose. In sprain of the shoulder, 

 the horse evidently suffers extreme pain while mo^dng, and, the muscle 

 underneath being inflamed and tender, he "will extend it as little as possible. 

 He will drag his toe along the ground. It is in the lifting of the foot that 

 the shoulder is principally moved. If the foot is lifted high, let the horse 

 be ever so lame, the shoulder is little, if at all, affected. In sprain of the 

 back sinews, it is only when the horse is in motion that the injui'ed parts 

 are put to most pain ; the pain is greatest here when the weight rests on 

 the limb in shoulder-lameness, and there is a pecuHar quickness in catching 

 up the limb the moment the weight is thrown on it. This is particularly 

 evident when the horse is going down hill, and the injured hmb bears an 

 additional portion of the weight. In the stable too, when, in other cases, 

 the horse points or projects one foot before the other, that foot is usually 

 flat on the ground. In shoulder-lameness, the toe alone rests on the 

 ground. The circumstance which most of all characterises this affection 

 is, that when the foot is hfted and then brought considerably forward the 

 horse will express very great pain, Avliich he wiU not do if the lameness is 

 in the foot or the leg. This point has been longer dwelt upon, in order 

 that the reader may be enabled to put to the test the many cfiijcs of 

 shoulder- lameness, which exist only in the imagination of the gi'oom or 

 the farrier. 



In sprain of the internal muscles of the shoulder, local measures can be 

 adopted, xi dose of physic should be given, warm fomentations apphed, 

 and the horse should be kept as quiet as possible. The injury is sometimes 

 too deeply seated for external stimulants to have veiy great effect, yet an 

 embrocation composed of oil of turpentine, water of ammonia, and soap 

 linmient may be applied twice daily after tlie fomentation, and afterwards 

 a bhster or setons may very properly be resorted to, if the lameness is not 

 removed. The swimming of the horse is an inhuman practice ; it tortures 

 the animal, and increases the inflammation. The i:iegging of the shoulder 

 (puncturing the skin, and blowing into the cellular structure beneath until 

 it is considerably pufied up) is another relic of ignorance and barbarity. 



