DEFECTS IN THE HORSE 



203 



trouble. Draft horses, especially those with long feet and 

 high heel are most predisposed to have this disease. Ac- 

 cording to Gay,^ "sidebones are most common on the outer 

 quarters of wide-fronted draft horses, because such horses 

 are inclined to be 'toe nar- 

 row, ' which brings the outer 

 quarter nearer to the center 

 of weight bearing, thereby 

 imposing weight and wear 

 which should be borne by 

 the other quarter." Horses 

 driven on pavement or hard 

 roads are much more given 

 to sidebones than those work- 

 ing most of their time on the 

 farm, or on soft ground. 

 Lameness may not be evi- 

 dent, even where very pro- 

 nounced cases of sidebones 

 occur, yet this disease is 

 classed as an unsoundness 

 and seriously affects selling 

 values. Horse dealers and 

 judges have given much 

 more emphasis to this sub- 

 ject since the beginning of 

 the twentieth century, than 

 prior to this period. It is 

 difficult to find heavy draft horses, used on pavements, that 

 are entirely free from this unsoundness. 



Ringbone is a bony deposit which encircles the pastern 

 bones, especially those of the front legs. On old horses 

 this bony enlargement sometimes becomes quite prominent. 

 Ringbone may be due to hard work, strains or bruises, and 

 may cause serious lameness. 



Splint is a bony projection or roughness usually found 



5 Productive Horse Husbandry, Philadelphia, 1914, p. 149. 



Fig. 113. — "Sidebone is found on 

 the rear part of the foot, especially 

 the front one, on the wing of the cof- 

 fin bone, at the crown or. top of the 

 hoof." (Photo by courtesy College 

 Veterinary Medicine, Ohio State 

 University.) 



