362 CURB. 



this joint has to perform, and the thoughtlessness and cruelty with which that 

 work is often exacted, are considered, it will not excite any surprise if this ne- 

 cessarily complicated mechanism is sometimes deranged. The hock, from its 

 complicated structure and its work, is the principal seat of lameness hehind. 



ENLARGEMENT OF THE HOCK. 



First, there is inflammation, or sprain of the hock-joint generally, arising from 

 sudden violent concussion, by some check at speed, or over- weight, and attended 

 with enlargement of the whole joint, and great tenderness and lameness. This, 

 however, like other diffused inflammations, is not so untractable as an intense one 

 of a more circumscribed nature, and by rest and fomentation, or, perchance, 

 firing, the limb recovers its action, and the horse becomes fit for ordinary work. 



The swelling, however, does not always subside. Enlargement, spread over 

 the whole of the hock-joint, remains. A horse with an enlarged hock must 

 always be regarded with suspicion. In truth, he is unsound. The parts, altered 

 in structure, must be to a certain degree weakened. The animal may discharge 

 his usual work during a long period, without return of lameness ; but if one of 

 those emergencies should occur when all his energies require to be exerted, the 

 disorganised and weakened part will fail. The purchase, therefore, of a horse 

 with enlarged hock will depend on circumstances. If he has other excellences, 

 he will not be uniformly rejected ; for he may be ridden or driven moderately 

 for many a year without inconvenience, yet one extra hard day's work may 

 lame him for ever. 



CURB. 



There are often injuries of particular parts of the hock-joint. Curb is an af- 

 fection of this kind. It is an enlargement at the back of the hock, three or four 

 inches below its point. It is represented at d, p. 357, and it is either a strain 

 of the ring-like ligament which binds the tendons in their place, or of the 

 sheath of the tendons ; oftener, however, of the ligament than of the sheath. 

 Any sudden action of the limb of more than usual violence may produce it, and 

 therefore horses are found to ' throw out curbs' after a hardly-contested race, 

 an extraordinary leap, a severe gallop over heavy ground, or a sudden check in 

 the gallop. Young horses are particularly liable to it, and horses that are cow- 

 hocked (vide cut, p. 357), whose hocks and legs resemble those of the cow, the 

 hocks being turned inward, and the legs forming a considerable angle outwards. 

 This is intelligible enough ; for in hocks so formed, the annular ligament must 

 be continually on the stretch, in order to confine the tendon. 



Curbs are generally accompanied by considerable lameness at their first ap- 

 pearance, but the swelling is not always great. They are best detected by 

 observing the leg sideway. 



The first object in attempting the cure is to abate inflammation, and this will 

 be most readily accomplished by cold evaporating lotions frequently applied to 

 the part. Equal portions of spirit of wine, water, arid vinegar, will afford an 

 excellent application. It will be almost impossible to keep a bandage on. If 

 the heat and lameness are considerable, it will be prudent to give a dose of 

 physic, and to bleed from the subcutaneous vein, whose course is represented at r, 

 page 355 ; and whether the injury is of the annular ligament, or the sheath of 

 the tendon, more active means will be necessary to perfect the cure. Either a 

 liquid blister should be rubbed on the part, consisting of a vinous or turpentine 

 tincture of cantharides, and this daily applied until some considerable swelling 

 takes place ; or, what is the preferable plan, the hair should be cut off, and the 

 part blistered as soon as the heat has been subdued. The blister should be re- 

 peated until the swelling has disappeared, and the horse goes sound. In severe 



