However, man cannot say to nature, "Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther," otherwise the alteration of structure, if unseen, might distress the horse, but would little affect the owner. A diseased action, once started up, is apt to involve other parts than those in which it originated. Thus, a splint is strictly an exostosis or bony tumor on the inner and lower part of the knee-joint; but there are found to be others which this definition will not embrace. Here, for instance, are the ordinary kinds of splint to be seen, more or less, in every animal subject to man's usage.
THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF SPLINT.
1. A high splint, near the knee.
2. A low splint, far from the knee.
3. A small bony growth on the front
of the leg, which is also called a splint.
Number 1 is unsightly. Moreover, it gives an unpleasant jar to the rider of the poor horse thus deformed; and few men, when they state this fact, ever think of what sensation that which jars the equestrian must occasion to the steed. It will produce lameness at first; but, this surmounted and the tumor fully formed, it causes no inconvenience beyond a loss of elasticity when in motion; and because it provokes no lameness, man says it is unattended by feeling.
Figure 2 is a splint on the side of the leg. It also is unsightly, and produces a disagreeable sensation to the person in the saddle. Moreover, it is exposed to accidents. If the horse has high and close action, the tumor may be struck when the foot is being raised. Such a possibility is not altogether free from danger. The horse, having grazed the swelling, will often fall down as though it were shot. That circumstance warrants the supposition that these growths are not quite so devoid of sensibility as most horse owners are pleased to assert they are.
The slight enlargement, opposite which stands figure 3, denotes a growth of small size. It may be of no great consequence, if it appear on a vacant part of the bone, or on a place over which no tendon passes; but it is of serious import, if situated beneath a tendon, as then it causes incurable lameness.
Man having provoked these blemishes, Nature generally strives to remove the effects of his stupidity. She will smooth the top of the tumor by the interposition of cartilage and of ligament, that the skin may not be irritated when passing over these enlargements. She will also develop a false bursa on the top of each, thereby causing the integument to move with an approach to ease.