INTERFERING. 363 



exhibited, whether at the knee or at the fetlock, as characterized by 

 all the pathological conditions which have appeared as accompani- 

 ments of capped knee or capped hock. If, in consequence of the force 

 of the blow^ or blows, the inflammation has been unusually severe, 

 a mortification of the skin may become one of the consequences, a 

 slough taking place, succeeded by a cutaneous ulcer on the inside of 

 the fetlock or where the greater number of the original wounds are 

 inflicted. If the interfering, has been often repeated it may be fol- 

 lowed by another condition, which has been considered in our remarks 

 upon other affections. It is a plastic exudation or thickening of the 

 parts, which are commonl}^ said to have become " callous," and the 

 effect of it is to destroy the regularity of the outlines of the joint to an 

 extent which constitutes a serious blemish, which will be permanent, 

 and according to the degree of the aberration from the natural and 

 symmetrical lines will inevitably depreciate the commercial value of 

 the animal. 



An animal in interfering may thus exhibit a range of symptoms 

 which, from the simplest form of a mere " touching," may succes- 

 sively assume the serious characters of an ugly cicatrix, a hard, 

 plastic swelling, or perhaps, as witnessed at the knee, of periostitis 

 with its sequela^. 



If a single and constantly recurring cause — a blow — be the starting 

 point in interfering, w^e may now consider the subject of the predispo- 

 sition which brings such serious results upon the suffering animal, 

 and the conditions which lead to and accompany it. These are 

 numerous, but the first in frequency and importance is peculiarity of 

 conformation in the animals addicted to it. The first class will include 

 horses whose chests are narrow and whose legs do not stand straight 

 and upright, but are crooked and pigeon-toed in and out. The second 

 class includes those whose legs are weak, either from youth or hard 

 labor, or from severe attacks of sickness. Another class is made up 

 of those having abnormally developed feet, or which have been badly 

 shod with unnecessarily wide or heavy shoes. Another class consists 

 of those that are affected with swollen fetlocks or chronic edematous 

 swelling of the leg. Another is formed of animals with a peculiar 

 action, as those whose knee action is very high, and it is these that 

 furnish most of the cases of speedy cut. 



Prognosis. — The prognosis of interfering is never a very serious 

 one. However violent the blow may be it is rarely that subsequent 

 complications of a troublesome nature occur. The principal evil 

 attending it is a liability to be followed by a thickened or callous 

 deposit which is not only an eyesore and a blemish, but constitutes a 

 new and increased predisposition. The remark that " an animal 

 which has interfered once is always liable to interfere," is often con- 

 firmed and sanctioned by a recurrence of the trouble. 



