CAUSES OF UNSOUNDNESS. 93 



does, if one accepts the definition sometimes 

 employed in reference to unsoundness, namely, 

 " anything which does at the present, or at 

 any subsequent date, interfere with the utility 

 of the animal." Although it is correct to accept 

 this, a great deal of dissatisfaction will arise if 

 veterinary surgeons make a hard and fast rule 

 to reject horses which are slightly given to cutting. 

 A good deal of discretion must be exercised. If 

 there is any enlargement of the fetlock, or the 

 action defective, or sluggish, it is better to avoid 

 purchasing the animal. 



Splint. 



Amongst all the diseases affecting the bones of the 

 horse, splint is one of — if not the — commonest (and 

 there are very few men who have had anything to 

 do with horses that do not know the meaning of the 

 term), though the writer's experience leads him to 

 believe that many of those who pretend to know 

 what constitutes sphnt have little knowledge 

 beyond that of imagination. Splint is equally 

 common to both Hght and heavy horses, but veteri- 

 narians do not attach much importance to it in 

 the latter, excepting vanners, etc., required for 

 fast work. All forms of sphnt constitute unsound- 



