318 BOG SPAVIN. 
steed without an application, which, to be beneficial, should be per- 
petually worn. 
Such is the history and the occasional termination of wind-galls. What 
kind of man is he who, when purchasing a horse, can confidently assert 
the animal will not exhibit the worst stage of the affection? A horse 
displaying wind-galls is prepared for the advent of the more serious form 
of disease; still, horsemen will persist in deeming synovial enlargements 
a trivial affair, when seen in the body of a creature whose utility resides 
in its power to move the limbs with agility. 
BOG SPAVIN. 
Bog spavin is a mark which man makes to signalize his authority over 
breathing flesh ; man, in his stupidity, will form notions of what animals 
should be; he will not learn from nature. Thus the horse, which is 
made up of timidity and affection, he loves to chronicle as fierce, fiery, 
noble, and courageous; he talks largely of having mastered such or such 
a creature; he boasts highly of having laid whip and spur to a “brute” 
which, had he courted with gentleness, and wooed with sympathy, 
might not have been subdued so quickly, but assuredly would have been 
attached to him for life. 
The hocks suffer severely through such erroneous opinions. These 
convictions are widely spread and influence every horseman; they con- 
trol the breaker, who acts as though he had a wild beast to conquer into 
a show of submission, not to train a living animal which is naturally 
willing, only afraid to submit. Instead of courting such a being, the 
bit, the lash, and the cold steel are brought to bear upon a frame every 
fiber of which already quivers with alarm; many a colt, consequently, 
is ruined by the breaker. The creature is pulled up with a tug at the 
reins; and pain never yet enlightened an understanding; the horse is 
forced to do what he would cheerfully perform, if man 
would only take necessary trouble to communicate his 
wishes to a creature which, not comprehending words, 
is naturally somewhat slow to interpret heavy chas- 
tisement. 
The breaker, however, is considered equal to his 
office, if he be a light weight and a very resolute man. 
Saw eranty, Lhe young colt is sprained and jarred in every possible 
SYNOvTAL | MeMPRANE manner; it is at last returned to its master more than 
half broken—in the literal sense—for the seeds have been 
sown which, in time, will assuredly crop into a host of virulent diseases. 
This affection is an increase of synovia in the upper or chief joint of 
