i86 THE HORSE 



digestive, generative, and urinar}^ systems are all part of 

 the beauty of animal mechanism and animal locomotion. 

 Unquestionably the effects of concussion — direct or in- 

 direct — the unequal distribution of pressure and heredi- 

 tary predisposition are all factors concerned with disease 

 and injury in connection with the limbs of the horse, and 

 sometimes other portions of the anatomy. The nature of 

 a horse's work and its age have a direct bearing upon the 

 production of some of the infirmities with which we are 

 about to deal. It may be accepted as a truism that any 

 horse under the age of four years is much more liable to 

 become lame through some trouble than a horse of mature 

 development. In the fore limbs the following diseases are 

 some of the principal ones : 



Slipped Shoulder 



The reader will, from the above title, at once imagine 

 that the shoulder has slipped out of its proper place ; in 

 other words, that there has been a dislocation of the 

 shoulder joint. This is not so, however, as the affection is 

 one primarily implicating the muscles of the shoulder, 

 the nerve being known as the " supra scapular," and the 

 trouble alluded to is designated as paralysis of this nerve. 

 The muscles on the outer face of the shoulder lose their 

 proper functional power, and the result is that they begin 

 to waste, and this wasting is particularly obvious on the 

 outer face of the shoulder-blade. This affection is due to 

 injury of the nerve, and some horses make quite a good 

 recovery. Prolonged rest is essential. The muscles 

 should be freely massaged, at least once a day, by vigor- 

 ously rubbing the shoulder with the hands. 



Splint 



Almost every horseman is acquainted with this disease. 

 A splint consists of a variable-sized deposit of bone on 



