HORSES: THEIR POINTS AND MANAGEMENT 



arian be immediately summoned to attend. Split (fractured) 

 pastern, broken ribs, and fractured leg bones are not uncommon 

 accidents. If a wound accompanies the fracture, the gravity 

 of the injury is considerably increased. 



Whenever the horseman has reason to suspect broken bone 

 he should take the utmost care to avoid injuring the part 

 further. The animal must be got into the stable as carefully as 

 possible, and the part can, in the meantime, be bathed in warm 

 water in order to keep down the swelling, thus rendering the 

 surgeon's diagnosis easier and more certain. A fracture very 

 frequently observed in the horse, more especially when vicious 

 horses are turned out to graze, is that oi the second thigh 

 bone (tibia) and the injury, in most cases, calls for destruc- 

 tion of the animal. 



CURBY HOCKS AND CURB. 



Curb is a small convex sw^elling about three inches below 

 the point of the hock, and lying in the same straight line. 

 This is most evident when the observer views it from the side. 

 It is an unsoundness, but all veterinar}^ surgeons do not reject 

 a horse with curb, if such has no heat about it, or signs of 

 lameness, and the hocks are otherwise good. 



Causes. — It is an established fact that over-bent or sickle 

 shaped hocks are those most liable to become curby. This 

 appears to be due to the increased leverage afforded by the 

 point of the hock, which enables the extensor tendons 

 attached to it to act more vigorously, in this way causing a 

 stretching of the fibres composing the ligament running down 

 the back oi the hock. Commonly w^e regard curb as a thicken- 

 ing of the ligament — the result of sprain. 



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