PARTUEITION 



273 



high enough. In such a case it is most advantageous to elevate the 

 abdomen by means of a sack passed beneath it, and lifted up by strong 

 men at each end. 



When the foal itself is the cause of obstruction, this may be due to the 

 position of the limbs, body, or head. The fore-limbs are perhaps most 

 often at fault, and one or both are involved, the difficulty being generally 

 caused by their being doubled back at the knees (fig. 546). A similar 

 flexion of the hind-limbs at the hocks may occur and be a cause of difficult 

 parturition. The head, instead of being placed nose forwards and between 



/■'mm 



Fig. 547. — Head and all Four Legs presented 



the fore-limbs, may be bent downwards towards the foal's che.st (fig. 546), 

 or it and the neck may be thrown upwards and backwards, or towards the 

 side of the foal's body. Instead of the head and fore-limbs coming first, 

 it may l)e the hind-limbs, or these may be retained and only the tail and 

 buttocks presented (figs. 551, 552), while the body itself, instead of the 

 back being towards the mai-e's back, may be reversed, the young creature 

 lying more or less on its back with the legs upwards. 



Besides all these and other malpositions or malpresentations here 

 represented, there is the difficulty sometimes — though not very often in 

 the case of mares — occasioned by the presence of twins, as well as the 

 occurrence of monstrosities, and serious deformities or morbid conditions 

 in the foal. Deformity or diseases in the mare causing narrowing of the 

 genital passage may also be a cause of hindrance to birth. 



