DK. LEGEAR'S STOCK BOOK. 243 



vent motion in the parts. A small cotton rope may be wound 

 around the hoof from top to bottom very tightly, and then paint 

 it with tar, and turn the horse on pasture for a couple of months. 

 Sometimes a nail can be expertly driven through the edffes of the 

 crack to hold it together. 



COFFIN-JOINT LAMENESS. 



This disease is more properly known as "Navicular Disease, 7 * 

 as the little navicular bone is the part mostly affected. (See Fig. 



53.) The flexor tendon and 

 bursa of the joint are also 

 diseased in most of cases, but 

 the disease more frequently 

 begins in the bone. It is 

 estimated that this disease 

 is the cause of a majority of 

 all serious and obscure lame- 

 ness in the front feet of 

 horses, and if neglected or 

 not properly treated for three 

 or six months, it becomes in- 

 curable by certain changes 



Fig. 53. Navicular Disease. 



taking place m the parts. 



Causes. The most frequent eause of coffin-joint lameness is 

 hard and fast work on hard roads, and sprains of the joint. In 

 some cases the disease is produced suddenly, as by a severe sprain, 

 and at other times it comes on very gradually. The disease is 

 seen more frequently in certain breeds of horses, as those having 

 straight, upright pasterns and a pounding action while traveling. 

 One or both front feet may be affected, but it rarely ever occurs in, 

 the hind feet. The disease may be caused by nails piercing 

 through the frog and injuring the flexor tendon or the coffin- 



