TIIK PASTERNS. 377 



prepared ', tlie latter we sliould say catch, as it were, and then dii-ect the 

 limb first snatched from the ground by the powers of elasticity.' 



It may be supposed that hgaments of this character, and discharging 

 such functions, will occasionally be subject to injury, and principally to 

 strains. ]\Ir. W. C. Spooner gives a very satisfactory account of this. 

 He says that ' hunters and race-horses are considerably more liable to 

 lesions of the suspensory Hgament than any other description of horses. 

 The character of these strains is very rarely so acute as that of the ten- 

 dons. They generally come on gradually, with little inflammation or 

 lameness. Occasionally the injury is sudden and severe, but then it is 

 rarely confined to these ligaments, for although they may be principally 

 involved, the neighbouring parts are generally implicated. The usual 

 symptoms are a sKght enlargement and lameness at first, or there may be 

 the former without the latter. The enlargement is commonly confined to 

 the ligament below the place of bifurcation, and sometimes one division 

 alone is afiected. With the exception of strains of the flexor sinews, this 

 unfits more animals for racing than any other cause — indeed horses are 

 rarely or never tit for the turf after the suspensory ligaments have been 

 diseased,' or for hunting. 



The suspensory ligament is sometimes strained and even ruptured by 

 extraordinary exertion. The sesamoids, which in their natural state are 

 suspended by it, and from wliich function its name is derived, are in the 

 latter case let down, and the fetlock almost touches the ground. This is 

 generally mistaken for rupture of the flexor tendon ; but one circumstance 

 will sufiiciently demonstrate that it is the suspensory ligament which is 

 concerned, viz., that the horse is able to bend his foot. Rupture of this 

 ligament is a bad, and almost desperate, case. The horse is frequently 

 lame for life, and never becomes perfectly sound. Keeping him altogether 

 quiet, bandaging the leg, and putting on a high-heeled shoe, will afibrd 

 the most probable means of temporary relief ; but the application of the 

 actual cautery, in its severest form, will alone give a chance of ultimate 

 utility. 



The common injury to this ligament is sprain, indicated by lameness 

 and swelling and heat, more or less severe in proportion as the neigh- 

 bouring parts are involved. This will sometimes yield to rest and coohng 

 treatment ; but, if the case is obstinate, it will be necessary to have recourse 

 to the actual cautery. The hunter and the race-horse are most subject to 

 lesions of these ligaments ; the hunter from leaping the fence, and the 

 race-horse from the violent efforts wliich are occasionally demanded of 

 him. In both cases, the neighbouring parts usually share in the injiuy, 

 and a cure is rarely completely effected. 



THE PASTERNS. 



The upper pastern-hone (a in the first figure, and h in the second, in the 

 following cuts) receives the lower pulley-like head of the shank-bone, 

 and forms a hinge joint admitting only of bending and extension, but 

 not of side motion ; it like-\vise articulates with the sesamoid-bones. 

 Its lower head has two rounded protuberances, which are received 

 into corresponding depressions in the lower pastern. On either side 

 above the pastern-joint, are roughened projections, for the attachment 

 of very strong ligaments, both the capsular ligaments, and many cross 

 ligaments, which render the joint between the two pasterns sufi&ciently 

 secure. 



The Imcer pastern (h in the first figaire, and c in the second, in the next 

 cut) is a short and thick bone with its larger head downward. Its upper head 



