THE HIND-LEG 33 



above the hock, that they are not enlarged, as 

 they are occasionally found to be; but should 

 they be enlarged, and the horse goes lame, have 

 nothing to do with the animal, for lameness 

 caused by a sprained condition of these tendons 

 or their sheath is very difficult to deal with, and 

 is as a rule recurrent. 



The hand is now passed carefully over the 

 back of the hock, searching for the presence of 



curb. 



Curb.— Curb is the name given to a sprained 

 condition of a ligament that runs down the back 

 of the hock (calcaneo cuboid ligament). Curb 

 is, of course, an unsoundness, and in its early 

 stao-es often causes lameness ; but when once the 

 inflammatory stage is passed, and the Ugament 

 becomes callous, lameness from curb is not 

 frequent, and many horsemen, when the horse 

 is of any age, do not bother about it. For my 

 own part, I very much dishke a curb, especially 

 in two classes of horses, viz., the hunter and the 

 large carriage-horse, for in the work required of 

 both these animals a considerable amount of 

 strain is put upon this already sprained hga- 



