Common Diseases of the Horse 2 1 3 



Whenever oil is found escaping from a broken knee expert 

 advice should be obtained at once, as the treatment has to be of a 

 very special nature. Every antiseptic precaution is necessary, and 

 slings are required. If enlargement remains after the healing of 

 broken knee it may be greatly reduced by applying a smart blister. 

 In the treatment of broken knee or wounds of any kind, it should 

 be mentioned that the hair should be removed with scissors from 

 around the edges to prevent irritation, and the parts below should 

 be smeared with vaseline or the discharge will cause excoriation. 



Sore Shoulders — Sore Backs 



The former are caused by friction from a badly-fitting collar, 

 and the latter by chafing from the saddle, the pad, or a too-tight 

 girth. The injury may produce swelling of the skin followed 

 eventually by a wound, or may simply cause a superficial bruise, 

 rubbing off a thin layer of the skin and hair. 



Trfatnient. — When the wounds are superficial they may be 

 bathed with cold water, and afterwards covered with a freshly-made 

 paste of powdered fuller's earth and water. If the animal is thin- 

 skinned and liable to suffer from abrasions on the least provocation, 

 the skin may be hardened by bathing it daily with a saturated 

 solution of ordinary salt, i.e. as much salt put in the water as the 

 latter will dissolve. Attention must, of course, be paid to the 

 harness; it may be necessary to substitute a breast-pad for the 

 collar, or to chamber either collar or saddle. In any case until 

 quite healed the wounds must not be irritated by further chafing. 



Sometimes when a swelling is neglected and repeated bruising 

 occurs, an area of skin and underlying tissue dies, and what is 

 known as a " sitfast " is formed. These vary in size from a six- 

 pence to a five-shilling piece, and are extremely painful. The best 

 treatment is to have them cut out as soon as they are noticed, when 

 a wound is left which may be treated in the ordinary manner. 



Sore Chine 



This results from pressure of the pad or saddle. If the injury 

 has been caused by squeezing, and so prevented the blood supply 

 to the part, the tissues in the neighbourhood will die, or the injury 

 may be so severe as to cause inflammation of the bones of the 

 withers. 



Treatment. — The inflammation must be subdued as soon as 

 possible by rest, cold-water applications, followed by disinfection, 



