484 TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 



hay or damaged hay or straw, too bulky food, and keeping 

 the horse in a dusty atmosphere or a badly ventilated stable 

 produce or predispose to heaves. Horses brought from a high 

 to a low level are predisposed. 



Capped elbow. This is commonly termed "shoe boil," 

 and consists of a bruise at the point of the elbow, generally 

 caused by the heel of the shoe when the horse is lying down, 

 and sometimes from other causes. The continued irritation 

 leads to the production of a tumor at the point of the elbow. 

 The skin may be broken, and slight suppuration very often 

 occurs. The cause must be removed, and the animal provided 

 with a leather or rubber ring around the fetlock while in the 

 stall. The remainder of the treatment is surgical. Capped 

 elbow may cause severe lameness, but it is usually a blemish 

 only. 



Capped hock. This is quite common and may or may not 

 constitute unsoundness. It is the result of a bruise, either 

 continuous or intermittent, and may appear suddenly or grad- 

 ually. Such bruises may be received in shipping by train or 

 boat, or by the habit some animals have of kicking against 

 the sides of the stall, or at fences, or even in harness. The 

 skin, bursa, or the bone may be involved in capped hock. Usual- 

 ly it is the skin, which becomes very much thickened over the 

 point of the hock. It is in every case a blemish. Treatment 

 consists of hot and cold applications and blistering. 



Cataract. When the lens of the eye becomes so cloudy 

 or opaque as to present a white or grayish color, the eye is said 

 to be affected with cataract, which is a practically incurable 

 form of blindness. A blow over the eye and other causes bring 

 it on. It is rather common, particularly in aged horses. 



Chronic cough. A permanent cough accompanying broken 

 wind, glanders, and other diseases constitutes an unsoundness. 



Cocked ankles or knuckling. This is a partial dislocation 

 of the fetlock joint, in which the position of the bones is changed, 

 the pastern becoming more nearly perpendicular. While it is 

 not always an unsoundness, it nevertheless predisposes to stumb- 

 ling and to fracture of the pastern. Young foals are frequently 

 subject to this condition, and in the great majority of such cases 

 the trouble disappears in a few weeks without treatment. Horses 

 with erect pasterns often knuckle as they grow old, especially 

 in the hind legs. All kinds of hard work, particularly in hilly 

 districts, are exciting causes of this trouble. It is also caused 



