THE WINDSOR STEEPLE CHASES. 
319 
near limb, which was at the time deprived of all power of breaking 
the concussion of the descent by being pinned — as it were — to the 
earth, by the imposition of the off foot. The fracture extended 
directly through the spherical head of the humerus, from before 
backward, splitting it into two nearly equal parts, and extending to 
the depth of six inches from the summit through the shaft of the 
bone, ending there in splinters. 
It has become a matter of some surprise among the sporting gentry 
present at these races, that accidents of such magnitude should have 
occurred, the leaps in the course, so far from being great or “tre- 
mendous,” hardly exhibiting the usual appalling character. Indeed, 
there was but one very broad leap — a brook — which, by being 
dammed up, had been made fifteen feet in breadth, and eight feet 
deep, and there nothing happened, save that some of the chasers got 
in and bemudded themselves. Neither did there exist any anchylo- 
sis in the spine to account for the fracture. Reasoning, en philosopht, 
we know that it is not the actual extent of the leap that causes a 
horse to break his back, but the effort he makes in taking the jump. 
The bones are broken by muscular action, not by external injury or 
by concussion. When a horse that is cast fractures his spine, he 
does it by violently struggling while down, and not — commonly at 
least — in falling : so with a steeple chaser ; he breaks his back in 
the extraordinary muscular effort he makes in taking his leap, and 
not in alighting upon the ground. And therefore, although, certainly, 
he is more likely to break his back going over a broad or high 
leap than over an insignificant one, he may, from extraordinary 
effort, do so at a mere trifle. Mr. Turner was riding a horse out 
hunting that broke his back simply in crossing a field. His hind 
feet unexpectedly slipped into a grip or draining hollow, and in his 
sudden and violent effort to save himself, he fractured his spine 
behind the saddle-place, throwing his rider, at the time, over his 
head. Jessie, it appears, leaped into the brook, and must have 
broken her back in her efforts to get out again. Napoleon met with 
his accident in flying over a hedge and ditch, taking an extraordi- 
nary leap to clear the fence. I believe that brook or dyke leaping 
is more dangerous than fencing, more backs being broken in the 
efforts at incurvation or roaching the loins than in those of springing 
upward and forward. When the cast horse breaks his back, it is 
during the forced curvature of the loins, which, commonly in aged 
horses being in an anchylosed condition, readily crack. Fracture 
of the spine is an interesting subject — one that the recent observa- 
tions of veterinarians have tended to throw much light upon ; 
and one concerning which I suspect we have still something to 
learn. 
A Lover of Field Sports. 
