122 EXAMINATION OF HORSES 
situated well forward that.lames a horse. And why? 
How is it, if the pain, and therefore the lameness, is 
caused by the concussion which is produced when the 
foot is brought to the ground, how is it that spavins 
situated far back do not cause lameness? Are the parts 
- $0 situated less concussed? Most certainly not, as a 
moment’s thought will convince you. But how is it with 
the concussion of flexion? Flex a hock-joint and you 
will sée at once where the concussion comes. You will 
see that the bones at the back of the hock are actually 
less compressed in extreme flexion than in any other 
position, and that is why spavin situated well back never 
lames a horse of itself. I say, of itself, because, if you 
have spavin well forward at the same time, which you 
often have, then of course you may have lameness, and 
no doubt will have lameness, if the process before. de- 
scribed is not completed. ; : 
These considerations lead us to the detection of 
spavin. Upon this subject the late Professor Dick held 
very strong opinions. I don’t know anything that 
irritated him more than to see a pupil Jood for spavin. 
He trusted to the sense of touch alone, and he was quite 
right. I believe that if hocks were never viewed at a less 
distancé than fifteen yards; but instead, were always 
handled by the ¢actus eruditus, we should have far less 
“ Horse Causes ” in our courts of justice than we have— 
on this subject at least. It is the looking, and the prying, 
and the comparing of the two hocks, that lead us wrong ; 
that lead us to give decisions which end in an unjust 
