LAMENESS 
306 
more than once exposed to ridicule the too-confident master and his 
cunning groom ; but, for a professional man to commit such a mis- 
take, would expose him to something worse than ridicule — would 
place him in the situation of the farrier who “ cured ” horses lame 
from pricks in the feet by applying his dressings to the nail which 
had inflicted the injury, instead of administering to the wounded 
foot. A horse suffering acute pain in one of his legs will — if it be 
a fore limb — as the phrase goes “ point ” the lame foot, i. e. place 
it in an extended position in advance of its fellow, and in this 
manner himself inform us, by such silent supplication for relief, 
whereabouts he feels his pain. The animal will do this (point) while 
standing in his stall even ; so that a person going into his stable 
may, from this circumstance alone, not only discover a lame horse, 
but also foretel the leg of which he will go lame. In qualification 
of this remark, however, it must be added, that 'pointing does not 
invariably denote lameness : some horses will point from a habit 
they have contracted during some previous lameness; others will 
for the sake of ease or repose point, and so rest first one fore foot 
and then the other. Should the pain be in a hind limb, the animal 
will either stand with it flexed, bearing softly upon the tip of the 
toe, or else carry the foot quite off the ground, and thus, “ cocked 
up ” — as the saying is — go hopping along upon three legs. A 
horse with acute pain in both fore feet will stand with his hind 
feet advanced underneath his belly, resting first one fore foot then 
the other, and every time he moves will rear up his head and stretch 
out his neck, in expression of the pain he suffers : on the other 
hand, should his hind feet be in pain, he wiil stand with his fore 
limbs extended backward, towards the central line of gravity, 
with his head hung down, lifting first one hind leg and then the 
other. 
Such cases of lameness as have been just mentioned are in ge- 
neral obvious enough in their character : the chief question for our 
consideration is, by what signs or indications are we to determine 
which of the four legs is the lame one in cases where a run of the 
horse becomes absolutely necessary for its manifestation. The 
generality of persons, in their notions about lameness, are apt to 
commit two blunders: — One is, that, because a horse does not 
shew lameness in his walk he cannot ail much ; the other, that in 
trotting, the limb upon which he “ drops ” is the lame one. 
For a horse to “ walk lame,” he must be lame indeed — limp- 
ingly lame — feel sharp pain every time he sets his foot to the 
ground. The erroneous notion that lameness of every degree must 
be evinced at a walking pace, appears to have originated in the 
circumstance of a man shewing any lameness he may have in his 
walk : it not being borne in mind that the cases of the biped and 
