760 VETEEINAEY HYGIENE 



sidered, a young animal cannot perform the same amount 

 of work as an adult. Limbs of defective conformation lend 

 themselves to disease, such for instance as excessively 

 sloping or very upright pasterns, or a horse back on the 

 knees, or small in bone and tendon, or legs which are not 

 true in direction or too close together. But in spite of these 

 defects it is remarkable the amount of work the most ill- 

 shaped legs may perform without the usefulness of the 

 animal being interfered with, though this remark does not 

 apply to limbs which are not true in direction or are 

 placed too close together, cardinal faults certain to lead to 

 trouble. 



The nature of the work is a most important factor, and 

 presents so many phases that it would be impossible in the 

 space at our command to fully detail them ; but it is a very 

 obvious cause of trouble and appeals to ordinary common- 

 sense ; for example, a light horse performing heavy draught, 

 or a heavy horse performing saddle work, are extreme cases 

 but illustrate the point. 



Heavy wet ground, irregular ground, hard roads, and 

 sandy roads are also factors which can readily be grasped 

 as exercising an influence in the production of disease ; 

 on the other hand the influence of weight either carried 

 or drawn is not so easily grasped by the lay mind, and is 

 the most important factor of those mentioned. 



Finally, the condition of the limbs tell a tale to the 

 practical eye which nothing can explain away. A young 

 horse showing in his limbs signs of work is being worn 

 out before his time, no matter how good the muscular 

 condition may be. The early signs of work are indicated 

 by the legs getting puffy or swelling after work; later 

 the fetlock joints enlarge, windgalls form, the pasterns 

 become more upright, in the hind legs the fetlocks shoot 

 forward, and in the final stage the legs bend forward at 

 the knees. 



When in practice we speak of the legs showing signs of 

 wear, it is the above in any form or modification to which 

 we allude. 



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