Common Diseases of the Horse 



197 



Treatment. — As previously remarked tliis class of hock is in- 

 variably weak, and although it may appear unnecessary and eve« 

 cruel, the kindest thing to do is to fire the hock practically all 

 round as suggested for occult spavin, afterwards blistering several 

 times. This has an effect similar to placing a permanent bandage 

 round the structure, and enables it to resist wear and otherwise 

 greatly lengthens its period of usefulness. 



In some countries it is a common practice to fire the hocks of 

 young horses even if quite sound and well formed, for the purpose 

 of giving them strength, so that the buyer need not always assume 

 that a fired hock has been treated in this manner for some disease; 

 particularly is this so if they happen to be young hunters or well- 

 bred horses from the Emerald Isle. 



Cataract 



Cataract is a disease of the eyeball, and affects the lens, which 

 to the lay reader may be described as the transparent partition in 

 the eyeball. This when looked into in a dark box with a candle 



Partial 



Cataract 



Complete 



should appear quite clear, no opacity of any kind being seen. 

 Cataract is an opacity in this clear part of the eye, i.e. the crystal- 

 line lens. There are two forms of the disease, known as true and 

 false, but it would not be of interest to the reader to describe them, 

 and we shall not attempt to distinguish between them. 



The common method of examining the eye is to place the 

 horse in the shade and interpose some dark object between the eye 

 and the rays of light. A good method is to place the crown of a 

 black felt or silk hat just in front of the eyeball and look into it, 

 when a perfectly clear space should be visible. 



