ven he will travel, but stiffly, with a sort of sidelong gait
between the shafts, and after finishing his task and resting again in
his stall will pose with the toe pointing forward, the heel raised, and
the hock flexed. Considerable heat and inflammation soon appear. The
slight lameness which appears when backing out of the stall ceases to be
noticeable after a short distance of travel.

A minute examination of the hock may then reveal the existence of a bony
enlargement which may be detected just at the junction of the hock and
the cannon bone, on the inside and a little in front, and tangible both
to sight and touch. This enlargement, or bone spavin, grows rapidly and
persistently and soon acquires dimensions which renders it impossible to
doubt any longer its existence or its nature. Once established, its
development continues under conditions of progress similar to those to
which we have before alluded in speaking of other like affections. The
argument advanced by some that because these bony deposits are
frequently found on both hocks they are not spavins is fallacious. If
they are discovered on both hocks, it proves merely that they are not
confined to a single joint.

The characteristic lameness of bone spavin, as it affects the motion of
the hock joint, presents two aspects. In one class of cases it is most
pronounced when the horse is cool, in the other when he is at work. The
first is characterized by the fact that when the animal travels the toe
first touches the ground, and the heel descends more slowly, the motion
of flexion at the hock taking place stiffly, and accompanied with a
dropping of the hip on the opposite side. In the other case the
peculiarity is that the lameness increases as the horse travels; that
when he stops he seeks to favor the lame leg, and when he resumes his
work soon after he steps much on his toe, as in the first variety.

As with sidebones, though for a somewhat different reason, the
dimensions of the spavin and the degree of the lameness do not seem to
bear any determinate relation, the most pronounced symptoms at times
accompanying a very diminutive growth. The distinction between the two
varieties of cool and warm, however, may easily be determined by
remembering the fact that in most cases the first, or cool, is due to a
simple exostosis, while the second is generally connected with disease
of the articulation, such as ulceration of the articular surface--a
condition which,