In complicated conditions, where there is evident a chronic disturbance which could not be conceived as sufficient cause for a marked manifestation of lameness, accurate history of the case may be of great aid in arriving at a diagnosis.  An aged animal, having recently become very lame, showing a small exostosis on the first phalanx, and with the history given that the osseous deposit was of long standing, should at once lead the veterinarian to seek the source of trouble elsewhere.

Visual Examination.

As in all diagnostic work, a careful visual examination of the subject should be made before it is approached.  The novice is given to hasty examination by palpation, not realizing how much may be revealed by a careful scrutiny of the subject.  In this way he is led to erroneous conclusions which the skilled diagnostician has learned from experience to avoid. Too much emphasis cannot be placed on the importance of making a thoughtful visual examination in every instance before the subject is approached. In this examination, type, conformation and temperament are taken into account at once, for each of these qualities is in itself, a determining factor in predisposing a subject to certain ailments or inherent attributes, which may exert a favorable or unfavorable influence upon existing conditions and thus make recovery probable or otherwise.

Draft animals are less likely to be permanently incapacitated as a result of tendinitis, than are thoroughbreds.  Likewise, one would not expect to find this affection present in heavy harness horses as frequently as in light harness animals.

Mal-formation of a part, or an asymmetrical development of the body as a whole, may render an animal susceptible to certain affections which cause lameness.  A “tied in” hock predisposes the subject to curb, and an animal having powerful and well-developed hips and imperfectly formed hocks, will, if subjected to heavy work, be a favorable subject for bone spavin.

The matter of temperament cannot be disregarded in diagnosis, for in some instances, it is the chief determining factor which materially influences the outcome of the case.  A nervous, excitable animal, that is kept at hard work, may, under some conditions, be expected to experience disturbances which more lethargic subjects escape.  Nervous subjects, it is known, are more prone to azoturia than are those of lymphatic temperament.  Furthermore, the lymphatic subject often recovers from certain bone fractures which are successfully treated only when the animal is sufficiently resigned by nature to remain confined in a sling for weeks without resistance.

The physiognomy of a subject is often indicative of the gravity of its condition.  The facial expression of an animal suffering the throes of tetanus, azoturia, or acute synovitis, is readily recognized by the experienced eye, and upon physiognomy alone, in many instances, may the opinions regarding prognosis be based.  Particularly is this true where death is a matter of minutes, or at most is only a few hours distant.