STRAIN OV THE BACK AND LOINS 52'/ 



lotions, but of pressui'e also. By this plan, continued for 8ome weeks, con- 

 siderable enlargements have been removed, but they are very apt to return 

 on the slightest bruise. Special trusses are made for the prevention of 

 capped hock, and they often effect a cure by removing the cause when 

 absorption of the fluid follows, if not of long standing. 



STRAINS 



The fibres op muscles, ligaments, and tendons, and the fascia 

 covering them, are all liable to be overstretched, and more or less 

 mechanically injured. This is called a strain, the symptoms of which are 

 similar to the inflammation of the part occurring idiopathically. They are 

 heat, swelling, and pain on pressure or movement, shown by flinching in 

 the one case, and lameness in the other. In some cases there is considerable 

 effusion of blood or serum, the former occurring chiefly in the muscles, and 

 the latter among the torn fibres of the tendons or ligaments. — The symptoms 

 and treatment will depend upon the part injured, which will be found 

 described under the following heads. 



STRAIN OF THE {BACK AND LOINS 



When a young horse has been hunted or ridden with hounds over any 

 kind of fence, he is very apt to ovei'-exert himself in his awkward attempts 

 to clear the obstacle, and next day he will often show a stiffness of the 

 loins and back, which is seated in the large muscles connecting the pelvis 

 with the thorax. He is said to have " ricked his back," in the language of 

 the stable, and if the mischief is confined to the muscles alone, he may 

 generally be permanently cured, though he will be more liable to a return 

 than an animal which has never suffered from any accident of the kind. 

 If, however, the spinal cord is injured, either from fracture of the verte- 

 brae, or from effusion of blood or serum pressing upon it, the case is 

 different, and a perfect cure is seldom obtained. It is, however, very 

 difficult to form a correct diagnosis between the one case and the other, and 

 the treatment may generally be conducted with a hope that the more 

 important organ is uninjured. When there is complete paralysis of the 

 hind extremities, so that the horse can neither feel nor use them in the 

 slightest degree, the case is hopeless (see Diseases of the Nervous System). 

 For the management of the strain of the loins, an aperient dose may be 

 given, and the diet lowered, green meat if obtainable, perfect rest and 

 quietude enjoined. When the sprain affects the muscles imder the loin 

 (the Psofe muscles or " undercut " of the butcher), diuretic medicines, as 

 nitrate of potash, appear to act advantageously, but if the muscles on the 

 top (Longissimis dorsi, etc.) are the seat of mischief, much may be done to 

 relieve them with external remedies. A warm compress composed of a 

 double fold of thick flannel or serge dipped in warm water, frequently 

 renewed, and covered over with oiled silk or india-rubber sheeting, answers 

 well, or a pillow-case may be filled with bran previously scalded and 

 applied when the temperature is such that one's naked elbow can 

 comfortably be placed in it. This takes a long time to cool if covered 



