224 



THE STDCK OWNER S ADVISER. 



come ossified, tlicy are hard and unyielding as the bone of the 

 foot. 



The process of ossification is often a slow one, unaccompanied 

 by any acute inflammatory action, giving the animal no pain, 

 and causing no lameness. AVe frequently see this in heavy 

 horses. The causes are hereditarj^ tendency and shoeing with 

 high calks. Side bones are a cause of unsoundness, but if a 



horse with side bones 

 has good, strong feet, 

 open and well devel- 

 oped, showing n o 

 lameness, he should 

 not be considered un- 

 bound. If the light- 

 bred horse is found to 

 have side bones, 

 whether lame or not, 

 he should be consid- 

 ered unsound. Side- 

 b n e lameness is 

 char ac terized by 

 bringing the toe of 

 the foot first to the 

 ground ; when both feet are involved, by a shortness of step and 

 want of elasticity or springiness in action, resembling that of 

 navicular disease. 



Treatment. — Bar shoe, rest, blisters, firing, and, should these 

 fail, neurotomy. This operation should only be done through a 

 skilled surgeon. 



NAVICULAR DISEASE. 



This is the most fertile cause of lameness known of in the 

 better bred horses. ISTavicular disease may be defined to be an 

 inflammation set up in tlie na^ncular bone, bursa, and flexor 

 pedis perforans tendon. The disease originates in the cancel- 



Fig. 60 -Ossification of the Lateral Cartilages. 



