34 SPRAINS. 



suddenly does weight fall on the suspensory ligament, and the more 

 difticult becomes the task of the back tendons to save it from undue 

 strain. Hence, the well-known danger of inducing sprain of the 

 suspensory ligament by galloping on hard ground. 



The longer and more oblique the pasterns are, the more gradually 

 does the strain of work fall on the suspensory ligament, and the 

 longer time is given to the back tendons to contract, and thus to 

 relieve it from excessive tension. Consequently we find in ludia, 

 where the " going " is very hard, that oblique pasterns are indis- 

 pensable for horses which have to do fast work in that country. 

 The mechanical disadvantage entailed on the working of the back 

 tendons by obliquity of jDastern is, under such conditions, more 

 than compensated for by the comparative immunity from injury 

 thereby conferred on the suspensory ligaments. When the ground 

 is soft and level, or inclined upwards to the front, the balance is in 

 favour of the more upright form of pastern, which is particularly 

 bad in going down hill; for the steeper the descent, the greater 

 is the proportion of weight which the forehand has to support. 

 This fact is well understood by racing men, who always entertain 

 great prejudice against the chances of success possessed by a horse 

 with upright pasterns, when he has to compete in a race, a consider- 

 able portion of which is down a steep incline, like at Epsom. 



As the proportion of weight normally borne by the fore legs of 

 a saddle-horse, especially when mounted, is greater than that sup- 

 ported by the hind ones, and as it increases directly as the speed ; 

 sjjrain of the suspensory ligaments is in the large majority of cases 

 confined to the fore legs. I have, however, met with some well- 

 marked instances of sprain of the suspensory ligaments, and also of 

 the' back tendons of the hind legs, in hunters, from the use of severe 

 bits and from the practice of keeping too tight a Jiold of the reins 

 when jumping; the consequence being that such animals on landing 

 over a fence put an undue amount of weight on their hind legs, in 

 order to " save " their mouths. 



Both from theoretical considerations, and from practical obser- 

 vations, I think we may assume that the suspensory ligaments of 

 a saddle-horse do not, as a rule, get sprained even at fast paces, ex- 

 cept when the animal becomes fatigued ; when he is worked on hard 

 ground ; or when th© severity of the bit, or the mismanagement of 

 the reins by the rider, prevents him from placing the proper pro- 

 portion of weight on his forehand in jumping. The exceptions will 

 probably be cases in which undue or unexpected strain takes place 

 from the horse treading on some inequality or from landing on 

 hard ground when leaping. The lessons to' be drawn from these 

 remarks are too obvious to need beinfj detailed. 



