272 THE horse-keei'Er's guide 



If the foot appears to have been cut unusually deep ai 

 the angles where the shoe meets the inside heel, or if 

 there is any peculiarity of shoeing at that part, the exami- 

 ner may infer all is not right, and that he has corns ; and 

 if he waits for the proof, send for the farrier to remove 

 the shoe. 



The stifle is very rarely diseased ; but it should be exa- 

 mined for enlargement, or any marks of firing, or blister 

 ing ; and the gn)in should not be overlooked for rupture. 



The hock is one of the most important joints in the 

 animal machine, and should always undergo the most rigid 

 examination previous to purchase, as from its complicated 

 structure, and the work it has to pe'form, it is the seat of 

 lameness behind in nine cases out cf ten. 



When standing behind the horse, if one of the hocks 

 is diseased, the observer will perceive the bone does not 

 incline gradually, as in the sound limb, but there is an ab- 

 rupt prominence. Though to the unpractised eye this is 

 not always perceptible on comparing them, yet by passing 

 the hand down the inside of both hocks, this abruptness 

 will be felt. If there is any tenderness or heat, on pres- 

 sure, or the marks of recent cutting on the inside of the 

 fetlock, or unequal wear of the shoes, especially at the toe. 

 you may suspect spavin. Sometimes both hocks present 

 an enlarged appearance, though there is neither heat, pain, 

 or lameness (for hock lameness is frequently intermittent), 

 such hocks should always be looked upon with suspicion; 

 they are in fact unsound: for though the animal may, with 

 natural mal-formation or exostial growth, the result of dis- 

 ease, discharge his usual functions through life, without a 

 return of lameness in careful hands ; yet the probability 

 is he will fail, if called upon for any unusual exertion, and 

 that one day's extra work will ruin him for ever. In this 

 case, the examinant must be guided by circumstances : if 

 the horse has excellencies which counterbalance the defect, 

 the price is correspondingly low, and if the work required 

 is but moderate, he may be serviceable for many a year. 



Certain forms of hock are more subject to disease: those 

 approaching each other, termed lo v hocks, are predisposed 

 to spavin and curb ; those in wliich the point of the hock 

 inclines too much backward, are liable to spavin; and when 

 th(5 hock is too upright, narrow and straight, it is subject 

 '.o thoroughpin. Capped hock is a soft fluctuating tumoui 



