THE 
VETERINARIAN. 
VOL. XXIII, 
No. 267. 
MARCH 1850. 
Third Series, 
No. 27. 
LAMENESS IN HORSES. 
By William Percivall, M.R.C.S . and V.S. 
[Continued from p. 10.] 
Sprain of the Flexor Tendons. 
( Clap of the Back Sinews.) 
SO prominent in the minds of horse persons stands this accident 
beyond all others, that when a horse is said to be “ sprained,” 
without any question being asked, the “ back sinews,” it is taken 
for granted, is the seat of injury; and those of the fore leg in par- 
ticular. Out of two facts like these, two questions naturally 
arise: — one is, what is the reason the flexor tendons fail so much 
more frequently than others'? another, why those of the fore limbs 
should fail rather than the flexor tendons of the hind leg 1 
I have more than once had occasion to direct attention to the 
important functions performed by the hind limbs in the acts of 
progression, and to contrast this with the comparatively light 
duties of the fore limbs. While one, like a pair of oars at work 
in a boat, are plying forwards and backwards, forcing the body 
onward; the other, more like stilts, are employed in sustaining 
the propelled parts, lest the body fall forward to the ground. I 
have likewise afore observed, that two such different functions 
necessarily distress different parts of the limbs ; the hock being 
the part most exerted in the hind, the feet and legs the parts 
most tried in the fore limbs. What distresses the sinews of the 
fore limbs so much is the extreme distention, almost preternatural, 
to which these legs are put in hard galloping and leaping every 
time the weight of the body descends upon them, at a moment when 
they are stretched out to their uttermost, as they must be, to 
receive it ; and it>s in this identical position of limb, whenever 
any weight or force of extraordinary amount, or in any sudden or 
unexpected manner, descends upon them, that strain or sprain is 
produced. To 
VOL. xxm. 
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