SPLIMTS. 



237 



sideration of the shape of the foot — the inner quarter of the hoof being 

 more upright than the outer — and the fact that " corns " are much more 

 commonly found on the inside than the outside heel, also strengthen the 

 supposition that more weight is thrown on the inside than on the outside 

 of the leg. Provision being, however, made for this by the articulating 

 surfaces of the former being larger than those of the latter, as far as the 

 fetlock and pastern bones are concerned. I think we must look for some 

 other explanation for the fact of splints occurring more frequently on the 

 inside than on the outside of the leg. A much more feasible one is afforded 

 us by the manner in which the lower bones of the knee articulate with the 

 splint bones. On the outside, a small knee bone (the uncifoim) bears its 

 weight on the outside splint bone and ako on the cannon bone; but llie 



inside small knee bone (the trapezoid) rests almost entirely on the inside 

 splint bone. Consequently, the interosseous ligament which binds the 

 inside splint bone and the cannon bone together, would, in the event of 

 the leg sustaining a violent shock, be more likely to become sprained, than 

 that of the outside splint bone. 



AGE AS AFFECTING SPLINTS.— Young horses (five years old 

 and under) are most liable to splints ; the latter being usually a 

 result of sprain of the interosseous ligament which connects the 

 splint bone to the cannon bone, are naturally much more liable to 

 occur while this ligament exists in its entirety, than when, with 

 advancing years, it has become converted, more or less, into bone. 

 As bones in youth are more full of blood than at a more advanced 



