The 
VETERINARIAN. 
VOL. XVIII, No. 211. JULY 1845. New Series, No. 43. 
LAMENESS. 
By William Percivall, M.R.C.S. 
[Continued from page 308.] 
The Trot is the Pace in which Lameness is best shewn, 
in which, indeed, it is shewn when the walk discloses no sign of it, 
and while the horse still retains the power of galloping as though 
nothing ailed him — the explanation of which has already been 
given. On this account the trot may emphatically be denomi- 
nated the trial pace — the test of soundness or unsoundness, so far, 
at least, as action is concerned. Such being the importance of the 
trot as the discloser of lameness, it is of consequence that the pace, 
to render the trial efficient, be conducted in a manner that promises 
to afford the most information, the simple and ordinary rules for 
which are as follow : — 
I. Let the horse to be examined for lameness be led out of the 
stable in a snaffle bridle, the rein of which is already carried over 
his head ; and let the man who is to run the horse hold the bridle- 
rein at that distance from his mouth that will permit the horse to 
trot without any check or restraint whatever of his head, the ob- 
ject being to suffer or induce the animal to shew by the up and 
down motions either of his head or of his croup, as well as by his 
manner of going altogether, any limping or lameness he may have 
to complain of, and thereby to put the examiner in possession of 
the locality or seat, if not of the nature, of his complaint. 
II. The horse ought to be run the moment he has quitted his 
stable. By so doing we shall, probably, obtain a steady run before 
the commencement of those gambols which a high-fed horse com- 
ing first out of the stable is almost sure to display, and which too 
VOL. XVIII. 3 D 
