192 THE HORSE 



shaped " hocks, and the majority of horses with hocks of 

 this conformation usually show a couple of well-marked 

 curbs. Both light and heavy horses are liable to this 

 trouble, and while some veterinary surgeons look upon 

 it as indicative of unsoundness, there are others who 

 pay very little attention to it, unless the animal is lame 

 and the lameness ascribed to the existence of curb. 

 Unquestionably the " over-bent " hock is one which is 

 distinctly predisposed to it, although it may not always 

 develop. The author does not consider it of much 

 significance, but, judged from a legal standpoint in 

 relationship to the soundness of the animal, it represents 

 unsoundness, because it is a departure from the normal 

 standard, and is *' liable " at some subsequent period — 

 although it probably never will — to impair the usefulness 

 of the animal. It is customary — whether discreet or 

 otherwise — to fire and bhster curb, and sometimes to 

 adopt the same treatment with " over-bent " hocks, 

 although no curb is present. We think that the practice 

 is a commendable one for various reasons, but space 

 forbids us to enter into consideration of these. 



Bone-spavin 



There are very few horsemen, not excluding the boy 

 in the stable, who would appear to be unacquainted with 

 spavin, but this knowledge is more fictional than real, as 

 any man of scientific training can verify. Bone-spavin 

 is really a chronic arthritis affecting the lower and inner 

 aspect of the hock, whilst the spavin itself consists of a 

 deposit of new bone, the result of inflammatory action, 

 usually localised to a small area, just at the head of the 

 large cannon bone and its junction with the lower row of 

 the bones of the hock. Every variety of horse is hable to 

 spavin, but some more so than others. One or both 

 hocks may be the seat of the trouble, and the statement 

 that '' once a spavin always a spavin " is a practical 



