CHAPTER I. 



Detection op Lameness. 



definition conditions of examination foe lameness pointing 



suitability of the trot as a pace at which to detect lame- 

 ness movements op the head in lameness ^detection of 



lameness during movement peculiarities of action ^method 



of finding out whether the seat of lameness is or is not 

 above the fetlock. 



DEFINITION. — A horse is lame when pain or inability causes 

 him, during movement, to alter the usual distribution of weight on 

 one or more of the limbs ; or the normal " play " (extension and 

 flexion) of any of their joints. Irregularity of gait is. commonly 

 supposed to constitute lameness. A horse which is " lame all 

 round " may, however, go " level." Although deficiency of action 

 is the usual cause, the lameness of stringhalt is due to its excess. 

 In the case of a horse, equally lame on all fours, the duration of 

 periods of contact with the ground and " play " of the respective 

 joints will not be nonnal. In the majority of such cases, either 

 the toe or the heel will be unduly favoured in the distribution of 

 weight. 



Percivall defines lameness as " the manifestation in the act of 

 progression, by one or more of the limbs, of pain or weakness, 

 inability or impediment.'' Now comes the important division of 

 mechanical lameness, and lameness from ^ pain. Under ordinary 

 circumstsjices it is difficult to say when the former is wholly un- 

 complicated by the latter. If a horse, for instance, has a stiff joint 

 with no inflammatory symptoms after work, and the nature of the 

 lameness is unaffected by work, it is reasonable to infer that the 

 lameness is accompanied by little or no pain. In long-standing 

 cases of foot-lameness, as from ringbone, neurotomy (p. 680), or 

 the injection of cocaine (p. 620), so often results in removal of the 



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