SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
865 
flex his hocks strongly for a few minutes and then trot him, and 
if you fail to detect any soreness or irregularity of action at any 
time during these examinations or manoeuvres, both hocks 
showing you an equal amount of coarseness or very nearly so 
and then hot pronounced, I believe you have a coarse hocked 
and sound horse. 
Curb.—W hen is a horse with a curb practically sound ? 
1 st. All animals, immaterial of the condition of the curb, 
under six years of age should be condemned. 
2d. An animal of any age with a round bone and a curby 
conformation (cow hocks) should be condemned. 
3d. All large curbs and especially those soft and accom¬ 
panied with a thickening of the surrounding tissues should be 
condemned. 
An animal over six years of age, all conditions being equal, 
has the advantage over a young and immature one. 
An animal with a good, straight leg, and well developed 
hock, over six years of age, having a curb of long standing, 
which is small, hard, and who shows no lameness or irregularity 
of action either when cold, driving, warm, or after cooling out, 
can be passed practically sound. 
A condition frequently met with and one often causing a 
difference of opinion, is where the rudimentary metatarsal and 
cuboid bones extend around upon the posterior border of the leg 
beyond their usual distance. This condition should be exam¬ 
ined very carefully, and if no thickening or enlargement of the 
sheath of the tendon or exostosis on the bones can be detected, 
he should be passed as sound ; but if this condition exists in an 
animal of curby conformation, even if no true curb exists at the 
time, I believe he should be condemned, for we know that if an 
animal of this kind receives the least hard work a curb will be 
developed which will be very unsatisfactory to the purchaser 
and no credit to the examiner. 
I have omitted the pathology of these conditions, as we all 
agree upon it, and have attempted to bring before you in as few 
words as possible the conditions as they exist and as we meet 
them when examining for soundness, and I hope that some rule 
or understanding can be reached by which we can agree, and 
not render opinions directly opposite to each other, as so often 
happens at the present. 
This paper was freely discussed by the members present, 
most of them agreeing with the excellent points brought out 
by Dr. Ryder’s essay. 
