Foot and Limb Troubles. 233 



Lameness behind is usually in the hock ; if in front the 

 feet of heavy horses are usually affected, light horses 

 being liable to affections of the cannons, tendons or liga- 

 ments as well as the feet. Wearing of the toe of a front 

 shoe is symptomatic of navicular, of a hind shoe, spavin ; 

 if the heel is worn it is likely to be due to either founder 

 or ringbone. 



Shouldersfip, or as it is generally termed Sweeny is 

 rather a common accident in young farm horses, espe- 

 cially among those employed in breaking new land con- 

 taining bush or tree roots; the shoulder muscles are 

 sprained and as a result wasting (atrophy) of the outer 

 muscles takes place, and the animal is then said to be 

 sweenied. This affection is easy to diagnose when once 

 the wasting has occurred, the treatment is necessarily of 

 long duration owing to the damage to the muscle cells, 

 the wasted muscles usually take months to fill out. In 

 the early stages bathing with hot water, and a high 

 heeled shoe on the affected limb followed by repeated 

 blisters over the shoulder will usually give the desired 

 results; rest, the use of a breast collar and avoidance of 

 the cause will also aid in recovery. 



Wasting of these muscles may result from rheumatism 

 or chest founder (navicular disease). 



Sore shoulder and collar galls are very common on the 

 farm and can best be prevented by having collars and 

 harnesses that fit. A very good method is on returning a 

 horse to the stable to loosen the back pad, collar or sad- 

 dle, lift up and replace, leaving there for 15 to 30 min- 

 utes, the reason for so doing is that the parts under the 

 harness are quite hot, and if the gear is removed at once 



