92 CAUSES OF UNSOUNDNESS. 



should examine this region for the evidence of 

 " speedy-cutting." It is a very easy matter to over- 

 look it, and the author's experience teaches him 

 that a considerable proportion of horses are passed 

 as sound having this fault. In the heavier breeds 

 there is, of course, no necessity to look for speedy- 

 cutting scars. 



Cutting, Brushing, or Interfering. 



The term " cutting," etc., is applied when a 

 horse strikes the fetlock with the shoe of the 

 opposite foot of the hind limb. It often causes 

 a considerable degree of lameness, with heat, 

 swelling and pain around the part struck. When 

 a horse has been in the habit of cutting, it does 

 not require much observation to ascertain this. 

 One or more old scars can be found ; the skin 

 thickened; or the joint enlarged on its inner side. 

 Although this defect can often be remedied by 

 careful attention to the shoeing, it is occasionally 

 due to defective conformation ; and no power on 

 earth will remedy it. Some horses have a bony 

 prominence at the lower end of the pastern bone, 

 and it is this prominence that predisposes the 

 part to injury. A question that frequently 

 arises is. Does this constitute unsoundness ? It 



