d by structural or
functional defects of some part of the apparatus of locomotion, such as
would be caused by spavin, ring-bone, or tendinitis. _False lameness_ is
an impediment in the gait not caused by structural or functional
disturbances, but is brought on by conditions such as may result from
the too rapid driving of an unbridle-wise colt over an irregular road
surface, or by urging a horse to trot at a pace exceeding the normal
gait of the animal's capacity, causing it to "crow-hop" or to lose
balance in the stride. The latter manifestation might, to the
inexperienced eye, simulate _true lameness_ of the hind legs, but in
reality, is merely the result of the animal having been forced to assume
an abnormal pace and a lack of balance in locomotion is the consequence.

The degree of lameness, though variable in different instances, is in
most cases proportionate to the causative factor, and this fact serves
as a helpful indicator in the matter of establishing a diagnosis and
giving the prognosis, especially in cases of somewhat unusual character.
An animal may be slightly lame and the exhibition of lameness be such as
to render the cause bafflingly obscure. Cases of this nature are
sometimes quite difficult to classify and in occasional instances a
positive diagnosis is impossible. Subjects of this kind may not be
sufficiently inconvenienced to warrant their being taken out of
service, yet a lame horse, no matter how slightly affected, should not
be continued in service unless it can be positively established that the
degree of discomfort occasioned by the claudication is small and the
work to be done by the animal, of the sort that will not aggravate the
condition.

Subjects that are very lame--so lame that little weight is borne by the
affected member--are, of course, unfit for service and as a rule are not
difficult of diagnosis. For instance, a fracture of the second phalanx
would cause much more lameness than an injury to the lateral ligament of
the coronary joint wherein there had occurred only a slight sprain, and
though crepitation is not recognized, the diagnostician is not justified
in excluding the possibility of fracture, if the lameness seems
disproportionate to the apparent first cause.

The course taken by cases of lameness is as variable as the degree of
its manifestation, and no one can definitely predict the duration of any
given cause of claudication.

Because of the fact that horses are not of