282 
INGUINAL HERNIA IN THE HORSE. 
if in delivery the hind-quarters present; the foal in question showed an 
inguinal hernia as large as a child’s head on the third day after birth. All 
movements which cause dilatation of the abdominal ring, like violent 
kicking or slipping, especially slipping outwards and backwards, may 
give rise to inguinal hernise. The same result may be produced by 
dragging on the spermatic cord during castration, by the pull of heavy 
clams, or of largely developed testicles in old stallions. In the latter, 
inguinal hernise sometimes result during copulation, the erect position 
Fjg. 126.—Incomplete inguinal hernia. (The fig. Fig. 127.—Inguinal hernia of the 
shows the position of the inner abdominal ring horse. (Hering.) 
and the course of the external pudic artery.) 
causing the viscera to be pressed towards the pelvis and into the inguinal 
canal, which is dilated in consequence of the thighs being turned 
outwards. 
The condition occurs more seldom in geldings, because it is either cured 
by castration or leads to the death of the animal, and because dilatation 
of the abdominal ring very seldom happens late in life. The earlier the 
gelding is castrated the smaller does the inner abdominal ring become, 
and this explains why it is so small in most geldings, though the latter 
also suffer from inguinal hernia at times. The swelling of the spermatic 
cord after castration distends the canal and favours hernia ; the contents 
are usually omental, but intestinal hernhe also occur, and in stallions 
