Or Mismanagement of Farm-Horses. 



529 



the antero-internal part of the limb, usually between the meta- 

 tarsal bone and the cuneiform medium, but in some cases between 

 the two cuneiform bones, to which also in severe cases the in- 

 flammation often extends. Spavin appears to be broup:ht about, 

 in the first instance, by pressure and concussion, which cause 

 injury and inflammation of the parts just referred to. This in- 

 flammation gradually converts into bone the ligamentous con- 

 nections between one or more of the tiers of bone forming the 

 hock. During this formation of bone the pain and lameness are 

 most intense, and permanent relief is rarely obtained until the 

 ossification is completed, which, even in favourable cases, prevents 

 all motion between the smaller bones of the hock. 



Work to which an animal has not been accustomed, and for which 

 he has not been prepared, is often productive of very injurious 

 consequences. A certain regulation of diet and a certain amount 

 of previous training are absolutely necessary before a horse can 

 with safety perform labour even of moderate severity. Ignorance 

 or neglect of this fact often gives rise to disease. It is, for ex- 

 ample, no uncommon thing for a farmer to purchase horses that 

 have stood for some considerable time in a dealer's stable, where 

 they have probably become fat from soft feeding and want of 

 ■exercise. The purchaser, naturally enough wishing to test their 

 powers, puts them to the work of seasoned horses, and is sur- 

 prised to find them fail in satisfactorily performing their allotted 

 tasks. But more than this : serious disease is often the conse- 

 quence of such severe and sudden trials ; and the purchaser, 

 although in error, thinks himself imposed upon, and frequently 

 seeks redress at law. 



Derangements of the digestive system and laminitis often result 

 from overworking horses that are out of condition. Affections of 

 the lungs are also frequent among those employed for rapid 

 action, but are less common among agricultural horses. 



For the proper performance of digestion and assimilation a 

 large amount of blood and nervous energy is required. When, 

 however, an animal, previously unaccustomed to it, is subjected 

 for some time to excessive hard labour, there is an unusually great 

 expenditure both of blood and of nervous power ; and as some 

 time elapses before this loss can be repaired, the functions of 

 digestion are much retarded, part of the food undergoes chemical 

 change, and causes irritation, as indicated either by colic or 

 diarrhcea. The latter complaint, especially in young horses with 

 large flat sides, is a very common consequence of such mismanage- 

 ment, and, unless the diet be attended to, often continues for a 

 very long time, the food meanwhile passing through the intestines 

 in a crude and undigfested state. 



Laminitis, or, as it is also termed, acute founder, consists in 



VOL. XII. 2 M 



