SHOULDER SPRAIN. 469 



there are no known symptoms by which we can be in- 

 formed, whether the muscular or fibrous texture is affected. 

 Shoulder sprains are, however, not of such frequent occur- 

 rence as they were once supposed to be ; and when, on 

 viewing a horse in front, the muscles of one or of both 

 shoulders appear wasted, it requires more than usual exer- 

 tion to make people believe that the evil did not originate 

 where its effects are evident. Such appearance, however, 

 is no decisive proof; for in all affections of the feet, where 

 there is much pain, the animal indulges in rest, and not 

 only the external, but the internal muscles of the shoulders 

 waste : this draws the fore legs closer together, and the 

 whole substance seems lessened. It is very necessary, 

 therefore, to be able accurately to distinguish a sprain of 

 the shoulder from the numerous affections with which it 

 may be confounded. Every case of true shoulder sprain, 

 however, appears to occasion extreme pain to the horse 

 when extending or advancing the leg ; for which reason he 

 drags the toe along the ground, and having rested the limb, 

 drops considerably, and again catches the foot up quickly. 

 These cases are especially characterized by the extreme 

 difficulty with which a horse moves down the slightest 

 declivity, from the weight being thrown on the shoulders ; 

 and also by the strange kind of movement with which he 

 accomplishes the rotation of the body, in which the horse 

 swings the leg round in a remarkable manner : in fact, he 

 evidently attempts to move the limb in any direction but 

 that in which elevation of the shoulder must take place. 

 When the injury is principally in the shoulder, if pressure 

 be made between the fore leg and chest, in the direction of 

 the serratus muscle, the horse will flinch ; and as a further 

 mode of distinguishing this affection, if the foot be elevated, 

 and the whole limb at the same time brought in a straight 

 line, it will give intense pain should the shoulder be the 

 seat of lameness. The immediate seat of the affection itself 

 is in recent cases sufficiently well marked by the heat and 

 tenderness of the immediate part ; there is, however, not 

 always much tumefaction present. 



Treatment. — When by the heat, tenderness, and lame- 

 ness, there is reason to consider the inflammation great, 

 bathe frequently and copiously with a lotion composed of 



