MOUNTED INSTRUCTION 13 



feet are affected, lor the reason that the ankle of the perfect leg is not 

 so near to the center plane. Such animals are especially liable to 

 stumbling and to lameness from injury to the ligaments of the fetlock 

 joints. This deformity is to be overcome by such shoeing as will 

 equalize the disparity in length of walls and by proper boots to pro- 

 tect the fetlock from interfering. 



Interfering: An animal is said to interfere when one foot strikes 

 the opposite leg, as it passes by, during locomotion. The inner sur- 

 face of the fetlock joint is the part most subject to this injury, al- 

 though, under certain conditions, it may happen to any part of the 

 ankle. It is seen more often in the hind than in the fore legs. It may 

 cause lameness, dangerous tripping, and thickening of the injured 

 parts. Faulty conformation is the most prolific cause of interfering. 



Knuckling: Is a partial dislocation of the fetlock joint, in which the 

 relative position of the pastern bone to the cannon and coronet bones 

 is changed, the pastern becoming more nearly perpendicular, with the 

 lower end of the cannon bone resting behind the center line of the 

 large pastern, while the lower end of this bone rests behind the center 

 line of the coronet. While knuckling is not always an unsoundness, 

 it nevertheless predisposes to stumbling and to fmcture of the pastern. 



Windgall: Joints and tendons are furnished with sacs containing a 

 lubricating fluid called synovia. When these sacs are overdistended 

 by reason of an excessive secretion of synovia, they are called wind- 

 galls. They form a soft, puffy tumor about the size of a hickory nut. 

 and are most often found in the fore leg. at the upper part of the fet- 

 lock joint, between the tendon and the skin bone. When they develop 

 in the hind leg it is not unusual to see them reach the size of a walnut. 

 Occasionally they appear in front of the fetlock on the border of the 

 tendon. The majority of horses are not subject to them after colt- 

 hood has passed. The tumor is more or less firm and tense when the 

 foot is on the ground, but is soft and compressible when the foot 

 is off the ground. In old horses windgalls generally develop slowly 

 and cause no inconvenience. If they are caused by excessive tension 

 of the joint the tumor develops ra])idly. is ten^e. hot and painful, and 

 the animal is exceedingly lame. 



Overreach: A\nien the shoe of the hind foot strikes and injures the 

 heel or quarter of the fore foot the horse is said to overreach. It rarely 

 happens exce|)t when the animal is going fast ; hence is most apt to 

 appear in running and trotting horses. In trotters the accident gen- 

 erally happens when the animal breaks from a trot to a run. The out- 

 side heels and quarters are most liable to the injury. 



Frostbites: Excepting the ears, the feet and legs are about the only 

 parts of the horse liable to become frostbitten. In mountainous dis- 

 tricts, where the snowfall is heavy. and the cold often intense, frost- 

 bites are not uncommon, even among animals running at large. 



Quittor: Is generally seen in but one foot at a time, and more often 

 in the fore than in the hind feet. It nearly always attacks the inside 

 quarters but may affect the outside, the band in front, or the heel. 



