SPAVIN. 257 



foot of the suspected leg may be taken in the hand, drawn upwards 

 and held (Fig. 2), so that the hock may be kept bent for a couple 

 of minutes, and then the foot may be let down. If spavin is 

 present, lameness will become very apparent, if, after that, the 

 horse be trotted. 



The visible signs of spavin — swelling at, and hardness of the 

 part— may exist without lameness. If there be heat and tender- 

 ness on pressure, lameness will almost certainly be present. A 

 careful comparison by the eye should be made of both hocks. If 

 they are found to be exactly similar and no trace of lameness is 

 present, the horse may be passed as all right. The observer while 

 standing close to the side of its respective fore leg, should view 

 each hock, and should see if there be the slightest difference be- 

 tween the two hocks, or abnormal prominence on the site of spavin 

 of either. It is precisely the interval between the prominence of 

 the hock ceasing and the cannon beginning — ^the part of the super- 

 ficial line which constitutes the dip from one into the other — ^that 

 is the site of spavin ; a small round tumour interrupts the natural 

 declivity from the hock to the cannon, and in a moment catches 

 the eye of the experienced observer. In cases where the tumour, 

 from its smallness or flatness, or diffuse character, is indistinct to 

 the eye, the examiner will not make his mind up concerning it 

 until he has narrowly compared the suspected with the sound or 

 normal hock. See Figs. 93, 96 and 97. He should satisfy him- 

 self by feeling both hocks, the near with the right, the off with the 

 left hand. A more correct impression is conveyed by a light and 

 moderately rapid touch, when running the hand down, than by 

 dwelling long and pressing - hard. 



The existence of a spavin in the form of a small point of bone, 

 towards the front of the joint, often causes severe lameness, and is 

 difficult, if not impossible, to be detected without feeling the 

 hock with the hand. 



When a horse is chronically lame from spavin, the muscles of 

 the affected limb tend to waste away considerably from inaction. 

 In severe lameness of the hind extremities, the animal evinces 

 great disinclination to lie down, on account of his knowledge of the 

 difficulty he will have in getting up ; and his condition suffers 

 proportionately. 



Horses do not often become permanently lame from spavin, 

 which is consequently a much less grave affection, as a rule, than 

 a sprain of a back tendon or of a suspensory ligament, laminitis, 

 navicular disease, and many other ailments. This disease, when 

 causing lameness, is far more intractable in old horses than in 

 young ones, because processes of repair are much more active in 

 the latter, than in the former. 



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