CHAPTER XI 



LAMENESS IN THE HORSE 



Amongst all the troubles to which the horse is liable 

 perhaps none are more frequent than lameness, and the 

 percentage of horses which are rendered either temporar- 

 ily or permanently useless on this account is greater than 

 that from all other causes. 



The horse, by virtue of the work it has to perform, may 

 be regarded as predisposed to injuries in connection with 

 its locomotor apparatus, such as sprains of tendons and 

 ligaments, injuries to joints, bruises to the feet and various 

 other causes of disability which render it, for the time 

 being, unworkable. 



Lameness may be either acute or chronic, or rather, 

 we ought to say, the affection giving rise to the lameness 

 is of this nature ; the lameness being the result or expres- 

 sion of pain arising out of the affliction. As previously 

 stated, it may be temporary or permanent. In the latter 

 case quite a large percentage of horses are disposed of 

 for work on the land, etc., where they very often continue 

 to work for years. 



Lameness is much more frequently met with amongst 

 horses working in towns than in animals employed in 

 agricultural labour. Young horses are much more liable 

 to become lamiC if they are worked before their limbs 

 have had time to fully develop, hence the reason why it is 

 customary to reject a young horse, say at three or four 

 years of age, for some obvious defect such as splint, 

 spavin, etc., whereas a horse fully matured, though 



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