SPLINTS. 



233 



meets the requirements of horses at liberty in the open, it is 

 not sufficient for the abnormal amount of oorcussion which the 

 animal s legs have to endure when trotting on a hard road, or 

 carrying a rider at the gallop, even on soft and elastic turf. 

 Hence, abnormally long splint bones, especially if their respective 

 lower ends are unusualh' thick, are often predisposing causes of 

 lameness. 



The foregoing considerations warrant the assumption that the 



frequency of splints (union of the splint bones with their large 

 metacarpal or metatarsal bone) is increasing, and their gravity 

 diminishing in an equal ratio. Age exhibits a similar tendency. 

 Abroad, I have often heard it remarked that well-bred English 

 horses are far more liable to splints than foreign breeds which 

 live in a semi-wild state. Artificial conditions and selection in 

 breeding, when favourably applied, tend to hasten the slow course 

 of evolution. 



The heavier a horse's body is, compared to the strength of the 

 bones of his legs, the more predisposed will he be to develop 

 ?plints, is an assertion that cannot be gainsaid. 



