448 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



however, not forget that he has lost a notable part of his value, in 

 consequence of the slight solidity of the members and the feebleness 

 of their parts. 



The Horse Camped in Front. — Here, the direct axis of the 

 meml)er is inclined forward and downward instead of being vertical. 

 This is a defect which authors consider congenital or acquired, accord- 

 ing to the point of view they take. 



Some, including Bourgelat and Lecoq, refer the diseases of the 

 foot which are observed in such cases to the primitively bad direction 

 of the locomotory column ; others, including M. Sanson, who has 

 been the chief upholder of this opinion, think, on the contrary, that 

 the lesions of the digital extremity exist first, and give origin little by 

 little to the deviation of which we speak. 



Which of these two hypotheses is the most rational ? This it is not 

 so easy to answer, for both are plausible and supported by facts. Yet 

 neither the one nor the other is positively established. Nevertheless, 

 the opinion of M. Sanson appears to us to be the one which verifies 

 itself the more frequently. Rarely is the camper in front observed in 

 young horses, while it is very common in adults, and particularly in 

 those which are affected with some chronic disease of the foot. " In 

 an instinctive manner, the object of which is so easily recognizable in 

 the case of founder, for example, the horse imposes upon the poste- 

 rior limbs a portion of the weight of the fore part of the body, and 

 diminishes thus far the pressure supported by his fore-feet." ^ 



Whatever may be the point of origin of camping, whether it 

 is regarded as the cause or the effect of superficial or of deep altera- 

 tions of the digital region, it is well known that animals thus formed 

 are used every day. And as this defect does not render the horse 

 unable to perform his work, it is interesting to point out to those who 

 wish to purchase him the principal disadvantages which follow from 

 such a conformation. 



It is seen, first of all, that the foot is placed in advance of the ver- 

 tical axes ; but as these lines are nothing more than the isolated direc- 

 tions of the components of the weight, — that part which is sujiported 

 by the anterior columns,— it follows that their resultant, which acts in 

 the direction ab, will fall upon the posterior part of the hoof. The 

 more the deviation is marked the greater will be the strain on the 

 tendons. 



Besides, the fore-members deviating from the line of gravitation, 



1 A. Sanson, loc. cit., p. 675. 



