ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 87 



A ligament is also a dense, fibrous tissue, and serves to bind 

 two bones, usually, together. Tendons are usually of the shape 

 of ropes, and do their work, while ligaments are of a variety of 

 shapes. The ligament that binds the shoulder-blade to the arm- 

 bone, at the shoulder- joint is like a broad, enveloping bandage. 

 The ligaments joining the head and withers of a horse and sup- 

 porting the vertebrae of the neck resemble closely the cable and 

 supporting rods of a suspension-bridge. The bones of the knee 

 and the hock are held in place by numerous ligaments of a variety 

 of shapes, while the ligament that supports the contents of the 

 abdomen, hung between the ribs, the hips, and the under side of 

 the pelvis, is shaped like a hammock. 



A cartilage is a dense, highly elastic substance that envelops 

 the ends of bones at joints. 



There is no room for muscles between the knee, or the hock, 

 and the ground. The space between the skin and the bones is 

 filled with tendons, reaching from the muscles of the shoulder 

 and arm to their attachments on the cannon-bone, pastern, and 

 foot, with ligaments binding the bones together, the sheaths of 

 these tendons and ligaments and the nerves, blood and other 

 vessels supplying the lower leg and foot. All these tissues are 

 compact, lying closely together. They should be cool to the 

 touch, smooth and firm. Any pufEness, any undue heat, any 

 sensitiveness or roughness are sure signs of disease. 



Often when a horse is idle and is over-fed, his legs will swell 

 and will become feverish and painful. The animal will move in 

 a stilty, stiff way. This lameness will disappear with proper 

 feeding and exercise, and it should not be confused with the 

 lameness resulting from ligaments or tendons strained from 

 overwork. 



In the young horse the three metacarpals are separateb ones. 

 Due to injury, or conformation, or improper shoeing, or over- 

 work, these bones throw out bony deposits that graduallyu nite 

 them. In the aged horse this union is a normal condition, and, 



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