Farriery. Forms: α. 5 spaueyne, -veyne, spavayne, 6 spauain. β. 6 spauen, speven, 6–7 spaven, -ing, spauin, 6– spevin (9 Sc. spaivin). [ad. OF. espavain (cf. med.L. spavenus, It. spavenio), var. of esparvain, esprevain, esprevin (mod.F. éparvin, épervin), of obscure origin.]
1. A hard bony tumor or excrescence formed at the union of the splint-bone and the shank in a horse’s leg, and produced by inflammation of the cartilage uniting those bones; a similar tumor caused by inflammation of the small hock bones.
1426. Lydg., De Guil. Pilgr., 18226. With that fall … I cawht a great spavayne vpon my lege, whiche made me for to halt.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 467/2. Spaveyne, horsys maledy.
1523. Fitzherb., Husbandry, § 107. A courbe … appereth … a lyttell benethe the spauen.
1551. T. Wilson, Logike, II. N j b. We can se a spauain, a splent, a ring bone, or suche other disease in a horse.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., III. ii. 53. His horse … troubled with the Lampasse, infected with the fashions, full of Windegalls, sped with Spauins.
1614. Markham, Cheap Husb., I. lii. (1668), 63. A splent is a bony excression under the knee…, the spaven is the like on the inside of the hinder hough.
1633. Marmion, Fine Companion, IV. i. I am afraid this dancing will breed spavins in my legs.
1678. Lond. Gaz., No. 1270/4. A Roan Nag … a little spavin on the off leg behind.
1741. Compl. Fam. Piece, III. 435. The Spavin … appears in like Manner on the Shank Bone behind, not far below the Hough.
1766. Compl. Farmer, s.v. Spavin, When the spavin was pressed hard on the inside the hough, there was a small tumor on the outside.
1825. C. Westmacott, Engl. Spy, I. 321. Having put out a spavin.
1856. Lever, Martins of Cro’ M., xxv. Sir Peter shows an incipient spavin on the off leg, and I think he’d be well sold.
1896. H. Maxwell, in Blackw. Mag., Aug., 262/2. My attention was drawn, first, to one of the worst spavins I ever saw on the near hock of one of them.
b. A malady of horses due to the above cause. Also transf.
c. 1500. Rowlis Cursing, 31, in Laing, Anc. Poet. Scot., 212. The pokkis, the spaving in the halss, The panefull gravell and the gutt.
1594. Greene & Lodge, Looking Gl., 265, G.’s Wks. (Grosart), XIV. 18. If he haue outward diseases, as the spavin, splent, ring-bone,… we let him blood.
1601. B. Jonson, Poetaster, I. ii. Now the bots, the spauin, and the glanders, and some dozen diseases more, light on him, and his moyles.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, II. 152/2. The Spaven [is] an old Halt, which is left as the Horse warms in Travel.
1706. in Phillips (ed. Kersey).
1831. Youatt, Horse, 270. The lameness of spavin … abates, and sometimes disappears, on exercise.
1874. Sir W. W. Hunter, in Skrine, Life (1901), xiii. 229. A cast cavalry charger who gets rid of his spavin the moment he is drummed out of the regiment.
2. With distinguishing terms, as blood spavin, a soft swelling or enlargement of the hock vein caused by the accumulation of blood; freq. taken as synonymous with bog spavin (see BOG sb.1 4); bone or dry spavin (see BONE sb. 17 and prec. 1); through or wet spavin (see THROUGH- 2).
Ox-spavin, in some 18th-c. works, is a rendering of F. éparvin de bœuf, and app. had no real currency in English.
1523, 1565. [see THROUGH- 2].
1580. Blundevil, Horsemanship, III. 57 b. The drie spauen … is a great hard knob, as big as a Walnut, growing in the inside of the hough, hard vnder the ioint.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 406. Of the Spauen there are two kindes, the one hard the other soft: That is: a bone-Spauen, and a blood-Spauen.
1639. T. de Gray, Expert Farrier, 90. We have two sorts of Spavens: the one we call a Through, wet, Bloud or Bog-Spaven; the other a Dry, or Bone-Spaven.
1677. Lond. Gaz., No. 1346/4. A grey Nag,… a thorow spavin on the fore-leg before.
1831. Youatt, Horse, 179. The distension reaches from this bag as low down as the next valve. This is called a blood-spavin.
1846. J. Baxter, Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4), I. 449. Constituting puffy swellings, called bog spavin.
1885. Field, 4 April, 453/1. The connection between the ‘blood spavin’ and the ‘thoroughpin’ is proved by pressing on the swelling in front.
3. attrib., as † spavin-joint, -place, -vein, the joint, etc., usually affected by spavin, or where a spayin commonly occurs.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 118. If a horse wante wartes behynde, benethe the spauen-place.
1607. Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 407. I haue knowne diuers … helpt onley by taking vppe the Spauen vaine.
1623. Markham, Cheap Husb. (ed. 3), 47. For the smals of his hinder legges somewhat below the spauin ioynts.
1682. Lond. Gaz., No. 1724/4. A hurt not quite cured on the in-side of the Spaven Joint of the near Leg behind. Ibid. (1688), No. 2355/4. A dapple grey,… full jointed in both his hinder Legs, in the Spavin place.
Hence Spavin v. trans., to affect with the spavin. rare–1.
1867. Burton, Hist. Scot., vi. (1873), I. 215. The village hag who spavins the horse.
