THE EXTERNAL CONFORMATION OF THE HORSE. 
497 
the shank bone. It has been said that a large majority of cases 
of lameness in the front legs were due to some disease of the 
foot, but this order of things is generally altered when we come 
to the hind legs, in them the origin of most cases of lameness, 
is very often of a most intractable nature as far as yielding to 
treatment is concerned, unless it is judiciously dealt with in the 
very earliest stages; hence the necessity of selecting animals 
with well formed hocks. The variety of hock which gains most 
favor is the one which is deep from before backwards and broad 
from side to side; the skin should be in close contact with the 
hard tissues underneath, doing away with that soft meaty ap¬ 
pearance \\ e sometimes meet with. The superficeries of the 
joint should be free from large soft puffy tumors, especially after 
the colt-hood days. The hock joint being of so much import¬ 
ance (as it is so liable to become affected with disease), it may 
be an advantage to the student to make a few suggestions here 
as to methods of examining it, for which purpose it is very con¬ 
venient to regard the joint as having four surfaces—front, back, 
inside and outside. To examine the part thoroughly, both hind 
feet should be placed together, and in line as we view them from 
side to side; the examiner should then stand, say three feet out 
from the point of the shoulder, and make an ocular examination 
of first one joint, then pass to the other side of the horse and 
examine the other; in doing this care must be taken to see that 
both joints are alike, especially at that point where the front and 
inside surfaces seem to meet. If we find a prominence in one 
that does not exist in the other we may be tolerably certain that 
a bone spavin exists in the one with the prominence. In some 
instances it is difficult to make up the mind by this method, in 
which case an examination made from between the fore legs 
looking backwards, and examining first the inner aspect of one 
hock and then the other in quick succession, this will sometimes 
help us to determine with tolerable certainty; if we are still in 
doubt, we may get an assistant to hold up one front foot, and 
manipulate the joint with the fingers, using the eyes at the same 
time. Should the part be thickly clad with long or furry hair, 
