Due allowance should be made for restiveness manifested by some more nervous animals when the surroundings are strange and unusual.  In such instances, even pathognomic symptoms may be masked to the extent that little, if any, sign of pain or malaise is evinced.  In these cases the subject should be given sufficient time to adjust itself to the new environment, or it should be removed to a more suitable place for examination.  Animals quickly detect the note of friendly reassurance in the human voice and can very often be calmed by being spoken to.

By visual examination one may detect the presence of various swellings or enlargements, such as characterize bruises and strains of tendons where inflammation is acute.  Inflammation of the plantar (calcaneocuboid) ligament in curb is readily detected when the affected member is viewed in profile.  Spavin, ringbone, splints, quittor and many other anomalous conditions may all be observed from certain proper angles.

The fact that the skins of most animals are pigmented and covered with hair, precludes the easy detection of erythema by visual examination, consequently this indicator of possible inflammation is not often made use of in the examination of equine subjects.

Attitude of the Subject.

The position assumed while the subject is in repose, is often characteristic of certain affections and this, of course, is noted at once.  The manner in which the weight is borne by the animal at rest, should attract the attention of the diagnostician and if the attitude of the subject is abnormal or peculiar, the examiner tries to determine the reason for it.  If weight-bearing causes symptoms of pain, the affected member will invariably be favored and held in some one of a number of positions.  The foot may contact the ground squarely and yet the leg may remain relaxed and free from pressure; volar flexion, in such cases, is indicative of inflammation of a part of the flexor apparatus.  If the condition be very painful, position of the afflicted member is frequently shifted, but in all cases where the pain is not so keenly felt, the inflamed member is held in a state of relaxation.  There is need then, for a knowledge of anatomy and certain principles in physics to enable the observer to determine just which structures are purposely eased in this manner.  Where palpation of parts is possible, one does not need to depend on visual examination alone, and it is always wise to take into consideration every factor that may influence conditions.  Manipulation or palpation of the structures thought to be involved, should not be resorted to until a careful and thorough observation of the subject has revealed all that it can reveal to the diagnostician.

In all conditions where extreme pain is manifested by the constant desire of the animal to keep its foot in motion off the ground, examination should be made for local cause.  This is seen in certain septic inflammations of the feet such as those caused by nail punctures invading the navicular joint, or in newly made wounds where nerves have been divided and the proximal end of such a nerve is exposed to pressure or irritation.