364 
LAMENESS. 
To set about the treatment of lameness upon any scientific or 
rational grounds three points require ascertainment : the first is, 
the lame limb ; the second, the seat of what causes the lameness ; 
the third, the nature of that cause : without these three pieces of 
information it must be obvious that any treatment instituted can 
be nothing else but guesswork and empiricism. 
Lameness occurs much oftener in the fore than in the hind limbs, 
perhaps in the ratio of three or four cases to one ; the proportion, 
however, will a good deal depend upon the breed and make of the 
horse, and upon the kind of work to which he is put. The ma- 
jority of lamenesses occurring in the hind limbs are located in the 
hock ; the hind fetlock and flexor sinews occasionally fail ; the 
joints of the hind foot very rarely shew disease. Of the fore limb, 
on the other hand, the foot-joints are the parts which more fre- 
quently than others harbour lameness ; the flexor sinews, and fet- 
lock, and knee-joints, being the next disposed to fail ; the shoulder- 
joint comparatively rarely. The fore feet become very often 
diseased in light blood horses used as hackneys upon hard roads ; 
the sinews, hock, knee, and fetlock joints are very apt to fail in 
hunters and racers. From such-like established facts we learn that 
it is concussion which is the grand cause of joint-lamenesses, and 
\prain or over-work that which occasions sinew and ligamentary 
amenesses. 
An observant eye will often be able to derive a good deal of 
information concerning the locality or seat of lameness while he is 
watching the action of the horse with the view of ascertaining the 
lame leg. The tread or stepping of a horse is sometimes found very 
characteristic, at other times his gait or mode of projecting his 
lame limb is an indicative symptom. How different, for example, 
will be the going of a horse lame in the foot from one that is lame 
in the shoulder : in one instance the animal will boldly advance 
his limb, but fearfully place his foot upon the ground ; while in the 
other case he will shew impediment or difficulty in projecting the 
same limb. It will be observed whether he turns his toe unnatu- 
rally inward or outward, or whether in going he treads most upon 
the heel or upon the toe of the foot : on which last circumstance 
further and more correct information may be obtained by inspection 
of the shoe of the lame foot, the parts worn indicating the greatest 
pressure, or habitual tread of the foot. 
With the information, then, of how the horse contracted his 
lameness, when and where he contracted it, whether he points 
the lame foot or not (supposing it to be a fore one) in his stall, or 
rests it if it be a hind one, whether his lameness abates after rest, 
or whether the lameness increases much or little after work, or, as 
is not infrequently the case, whether it proves less perceptible 
