IX] 



SURGICAL DISEASES AND CONFORMATION 



105 



Bhows lameness by throwing more weight on 

 the sound limbs than on the injured ones. He 

 also uses his head as a balancing pole, which 

 enables him to shift his weight and thus save 

 the injured limb. Therefore, if he is lame in 

 front, he will raise his head when the injured 

 limb comes to the ground, and bring it to its 

 natural position when the sound one comes to 

 the ground. 



If he is lame behind, he will lower his head 

 when the foreleg opposite to the injured hind 

 one comes to the ground. For instance, if the 

 left hindleg is affected, he will lower his head 

 when the right foreleg comes to the ground. 



The examiner must be thirty yards off, in 

 front of the horse, and on the near side, taking 

 care that the horse's head is left alone and that 

 it is straight, not bent to either side ; it should 

 have quite 18 in. of rope. If the head is held 

 tightly, the horse will not be able to nod it if 

 it is lame. The horse must be trotted towards 

 the examiner, who should note whether he 

 dwells more on one leg than on the other, and 

 whether he raises or depresses his head more 

 than usual. "When the horse has been trotted 

 past about thirty yards, he should be turned 

 somewhat sharply — say, to the right-about— -and 

 the manner in which he turns must be noted and 

 compared with the way he turns left-about. In 

 the second trot past, the examiner should try to 

 detect if there is any difference in the action 

 viewed from the off side from that which was 

 shown from the near side. 



Lameness improves with exercise, except in 

 the case of splints, sore shins, corns, laminitis 

 and sprains. Having detected which leg a horse 

 is lame on, the next thing is to try to find out 

 which part of the leg is affected. Disease and 

 injury usually show themselves by heat or 

 swelling, or both. The affected leg must be 

 compared with the sound one, both by observa- 

 tion and touch. If one foot is hotter than the 

 other, and there is no heat or swelling else- 

 where, the foot which is the hotter is the one 

 affected, and the lameness is probably there. If 

 the back tendon in one leg is more swollen than 

 in the other, and there is no heat or swelling 

 elsewhere, the lameness is probably due to the 

 swelling. 



The amount of heat should be detected by 

 using the back of the hand, which is more sensi- 

 tive than the front. Lameness may often be 

 detected without taking the horse outside ; for 

 example, if a horse is continually pointing one 

 foot, it is a sure sign that there is something 

 wrong with that leg, perhaps navicular disease. 

 Holding one leg bent or a peculiar action in 

 moving in the stall may indicate lameness. 



Hock lamenees becomes more distinct if the 

 horse is turned on a small circle. Some forms 

 of hock lameness are difficult to detect if the 

 horse is trotted in a straight line. 

 o 



415. The shoes should be carefully examined. 

 An uneven wear upon one shoe must be noted. 

 Special shoes are used on horses that are un- 

 sound. For example, a bar shoe is used on a 

 horse suffering from sidebone or ringbone, to 

 take part of the weight off the walls of the foot, 

 and thus decrease the amount of movement 

 between the walls and the bones of the foot ; it 

 may also be used for corns or foot fever. The 

 insides of shoes are feather-edged, to prevent 

 horses from "brushing." Steel tips and calkins 

 are used in cases of tendon sprains and hock 

 lameness. 



The frog is pared away, and calkins used to 

 place more weight on the toe and to remove it 

 from the frogs in cases of navicular disease. In 

 navicular disease the horse may go quite sound 

 on soft ground or on snow, especially after being 

 warmed up. 



If it is thought that the lameness is in the 

 foot, the shoe should be removed, and every nail, 

 as it is drawn out, carefully examined to see if 

 there is any blood or pus on it, which would 

 mean a prick. (For the structure of the foot, 

 see Chapter XVIII.) 



If the lameness is in the foot, the animal will 

 usually place it on the ground in an abnormal 

 way ; perhaps very carefully, or perhaps he will 

 favour the toe or the heel. The foot must be 

 gently tapped all over to ascertain whether there 

 is any tenderness. The clefts must be cleaned 

 out thoroughly, and a thorough search made for 

 nails and glass. The foot must be examined for 

 heat, splits in the wall or any unevenness, and 

 to see whether the lateral cartilages are 

 "springy" or hard. The pasterns must be 

 examined for ringbone. The foot and parts 

 around must be examined for overreach, treads, 

 cuts, brushing, etc. 



If the lameness is not in the foot, but is 

 thought to be in the lower part of the limb, the 

 two back tendons and the suspensory ligament 

 {see P. 101), the fetlock and the front tendon 

 must be carefully examined for heat, pufBness, 

 soreness, swelling, and to ascertain if the back 

 tendons are bowed. (See P. 97^.) 



Supposing the lameness is not below the 

 knee or hock, it may be in the ligaments of 

 these joints, in which case there will be heat 

 and tenderness. The hock must be examined 

 for curb. (See P. 95a, b.) 



If the lameness is above the knee, it will be 

 in the muscles or joints of the elbow or shoulder. 

 A slip may sprain the internal lateral ligament 

 of the elbow, in which case the horse will turn 

 the point of the elbow outwards to relieve that 

 limb of weight. When passaging towards that 

 side of the limb, the horse will drag the limb. 



416. If the flexor muscles of the shoulder are 

 sprained, the horse will drag his leg when 

 going forward. If the extensor muscles, he will 

 drag it when backed. These latter (the power- 



