298 
REVIEW—LAMENESS IN THE HORSE. 
plain 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 fresh out of the stable is almost sure to display, and which too 
often continue, much to our annoyance, if not to the defeat of our 
purpose. Another reason for the run being given immediately is, 
that any stiffness or indication of lameness the animal may hap¬ 
pen to manifest in his first movements, and which on occasions it 
is of so much consequence we should take cognizance of, may not, 
through previous walking or jumping about, be diminished or dis¬ 
sipated.” 
Then we are warned to be cautious in our opinion, bearing in 
mind, 
‘'The error most apt to be committed in determining the lame 
limb, and one that now and then, without proper attention, will be 
committed even by professional persons, and therefore one against 
falling into which it behoves us all to be upon our guard, is pro¬ 
nouncing lameness to be in a fore leg when it is in the reverse 
hind, or in a hind when it is in the reverse fore limb. Simply 
observing upon which side or limb a lame horse drops will point 
out to us whether his lameness exist in the off or the near leg: 
such, however, is the sympathetic effect of this dropping or lurch 
of the body upon the reverse hind or reverse fore limb to that of 
which the animal goes lame, arising from the synchronous action 
of these limbs in the trot, that, without attention to whereabouts 
the dropping is especially taking place, we shall be apt to assign a 
false locality to the lameness. For example, if lame in a fore limb 
the animal’s head will rise and fall, or ‘ nod,’ as he limps along; 
whereas, when the lameness is seated in a hind limb, the croup 
will be the part which will manifest these risings and fallings, or 
‘ droppings.’ For the young—very often for the more experienced 
—practitioner, it is a good rule to withhold any opinion about the 
lameness until the horse has been run both from and to the ob¬ 
server.” 
Having discovered the lame leg, we have to learn the cause of 
the lameness; and here 
“ An observant practitioner 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 ascer¬ 
taining the lame leg. The tread or stepping of a horse is some¬ 
times found very characteristic, at other times his gait or mode of 
