74 DISEASES INCIDENTAL TO HORSE-FLESH 



CHAPTER XIII. 



DISEASES INCIDENTAL TO HORSE-FLESH HOW TO D_.COVER 

 AND TREAT THEM, AND SO ON. 



MY reader being the owner of one or more highly- 

 valued animals, and having his stable arrangements com- 

 plete, is as yet not master of the situation, nor will he be 

 until he can give his groom directions what to do in case 

 anything occurs to his pets. In very serious cases he 

 must send for the very best veterinary surgeon that he 

 knows. But in very many cases he can order the treat- 

 ment himself; as, for instance, one of his horses is lame 

 behind (which is less often the case than before). 



THE POINTS OF VIEW WHENCE TO LOOK FOR SPAVIN IN A HORSE. 



i st. You look for spavin : to do so, look between your 

 horse's fore legs, back, stooping from that point ; you can 

 better see if any excrescence once shows itself on the inner 

 side of the hock-joint. Spavin consists in exostosis from 

 the adjacent external surfaces of the tarsal bones, always on 

 the inner side of the hock-joint, or in other words, an 

 exudation from the joint or its surroundings, ossified, 

 or in process of becoming so. Seeing the excrescence, 

 you naturally infer that is the cause of his lameness ; then 

 examine ; put your hand on it to determine where it is in 



