DICTIONARY OF THE VETERINARY ART. 251 



^een. All lameness from injuries within the hoof is often 

 detected with difficulty. Slight lameness is most readily seen 

 by making the horse trot gently, without giving any support 

 to the head by the bridle or halter, and without urging him 

 with the whip : the lameness is then seen by his dropping 

 harder and dwelling longer on the sound leg than on the lame 

 one, in order to favor the latter ; and this, when the lameness 

 is at all considerable, is attended with a corresponding motion 

 of the head, which drops a little whenever he steps on the 

 sound limb. An experienced observer can at any time distin- 

 guish lameness merely by seeing a horse walk out of the 

 stable. It often happens, in very severe lameness of one or 

 both fore feet, that the horse, when led out, will appear to be 

 lame in the hind feet also : this is occasioned by the animal 

 endeavoring to favor the fore foot or feet by throwing the 

 bulk of his weight on the hind legs. In all cases of lame- 

 ness, unless the cause is so evident as to render it unneces- 

 sary, it is proper to examine the foot carefully in the first 

 place ; and it should never be forgotten that swelling, heat, 

 and tenderness of the fetlock joint, or even the leg, may arise 

 from an injury to the foot. In lameness of the foot, the 

 affected foot will be warmer than the other. Considerable 

 relief may almost always be afforded in foot lameness by 

 keeping the feet moist, or pasturing the animal in soft meadow 

 land, or by stopping the bottoms of the feet with cow-dung 

 and clay ; by paring them when necessary. We sometimes 

 find, on examining a lame foot, that there is an enlargement 

 immediately above the coronet, at the heels and quarters, and 

 that this enlargement feels hard and bony. This is termed 

 ossification of the lateral cartilages ; it is more distinctly seen 

 by comparing it with a sound foot. In lameness of the foot, 

 there is sometimes a crack in the horn towards the heels, 

 extending from the coronet a little way down the hoof: this 

 happens sometimes after a horse has been travelling. This is 

 named a sand-crack. When the seat of lameness is in the 

 fetlock joint, some degree of heat or swelling will be per- 

 ceived. As the horse stands, he will be observed to favor the 



