known as lameness or claudication. A halting gait may also be produced
by the abnormal development of a member, or by the shortening of the leg
occasioned by the loss of a shoe.

For descriptive purposes lameness may be classified as _true_ and
_false_. _True lameness_ is such as is occasioned 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