The Southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1895-1909, 1902-07-15

of it's fellow, and in this manner
inform you himself by such ST.
lent supplication forrelief where
abouts he feels his pain. The
animal will do this while and
ing in his stall, so that a person
going into his stall will not only
discover Jane horse, but also
foretell the leg on which he will
go lame. However, it must be
added that pointing does not in
variably denote lameness. Some
horses will point from habit
they have contracted from some
previous lameness; others will,
for the sake of ease or repose,
point and thus rest one foot and
then the other. Should the pain
be in a hind leg, the animal will
either stand with it flexed tread.
ing gingerly upon the tip of the
toe, or else carry the foot quite
off the ground aud thus cooked
up" go hoping along on three
legs.
A horse with acute pain in both
front feet will stand with hind
feet we'll advanced under his
belly, pointing first one foot and
then the other, and every time he
moves will raise his head stretch
out his neck in expression of the
pain he suffers. Should his hind
feet be in pain he will stand with
his forelegs thrown backward to-
ward the central line of gravity
with head hung down. resting
first one hind leg and then the
other.
The generality of persons IN
their notions about lameness are
apt to commit two blunders; one
is, that because a horse does not
show lameness IN his walk they
cannot all much; the other one is,
that in trotting the leg on which
he drops" is the lame one. In
the horses walk there is that
rapid succession of movement in
the limbs and consequent rapid
succession of bearing upon them
that the weightofthe body thrown
upon the lame ley is toolight and
transient to cause him to finch
or evlnce lameness unless the
pressure, light and transient as
it is, gives him actual pain. But
in the trot the weight he is oblig-
ed to throw upon the leg may
cause the animal pain, notwith-
standing he evinced no pain in
his walk, and on this account be-
cause the lin bs in the quickened
pace, being elevated and project
ed with additional force, come to
the ground with more weight and
more conclusion.
In the gallop the legs stride
and come to the ground with
more force still, and, therefore,
a person might suppose that this
is pace in which horse should
manifest his lameness most of all.
Such, however, is not the case,
and the reason WHY it is not is
that the two hind legs act with
that Simultaneousness and veloc-
ity that the sound leg, taking the
greatest share of the weight and
thereby saving the infirm one,
no flinching or droplng takes
place; none in the least, so long
as the horse is capable of gallop-
ing.
The trot is the pace in which
lameness is best shown; in which
indeed, it is shown when the
walk discloses no sign of it. and
while the horse still retains the
power of galloping as though
nothing allied him. Such being
the importance of the trot as the
discloser of lameness, it is of
consequence that the pace to
render the trial efficient be con-
Quoted in a manner that promis-
es to afford the mastinf9rmation.
In some cases the seat and cause
of lameness is obvious enough,
but not undergraduates obscure
sometimes very much obscure d