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 often good self-nurses at best,
and that it is difficult to enforce proper care for the parts affected,
one can not wisely state that resolution will promptly follow in an
acute involvement, nor can he predict that the case will or will not
become chronic. Experience has proved that complete or partial recovery
may result, or again, that no change may occur in any given case, and
that in some instances even where rational treatment is early
administered, a decided aggravation of the condition may follow
unaccountably.

However, because of the economic element to be reckoned with, it is of
some value to be able to give a fairly accurate prognosis in the
handling of cases of lameness, as in the majority of instances the
treatment and manner of after-care are determined largely by the expense