DISEASES AND TREATMENT OF THE HORSE. 195 



RINGBONE. 



There are two kinds of ringbones — the high-up ringbone and 

 the low-down ringbone. The high-up ringbone affects the pastern 

 joint, the low-down ringbone affects the coffin joint. A ringbone 

 is a bony growth around the pastern or coffin joints. They may 

 affect the front legs, but are more often found on the hind ones, 

 and there are cases where the whole four legs were affected at the 

 same time. 



Causes. — Like most other bone diseases, it runs in some 

 breeds of horses to be affected with ringbones, that is to say it is 

 hereditary, so you see the necessity of breeding sound animals. 

 But there are other well-marked causes, such as hard or fast 

 work ; or an injury or severe sprain of the joint will bring it on. 

 A common cause in colts is allowing their feet to grow too long; 

 or, in foals, by allowing them to follow their mother when she is 

 working, which is very hard on foals ; sometimes by a horse 

 running a nail in his foot, and if it runs up far enough to wound 

 the coffin joint, it will cause the joint to become diseased and 

 throw out a ringbone; or it may come on by a horse standing on 

 ane leg while he is very lame in the other. 



Symptoms. — They are very plain. There is lameness, fol- 

 lowed by an enlargement around whichever of the joints are 

 affected. Now, if it is the pastern joint, the enlargement will 

 be about half way between the fetlock joint and the hoof; this is 

 the form known as high-up ringbone. If it affects the coffin joint, 

 the enlargement will be noticed bulging out around the top of the 

 hoof, and this form of the disease is known as a low-down 

 ringbone. The parts around the ringbone will be hot, and the 

 lameness will increase as the disease goes on. The peculiarity of 

 ringbone lameness is that the animal takes a longer step on the 

 affected leg and puts his heel down first; also, that he is more 

 lame when starting off than after he is driven a piece and gets 

 warmed up. 



Treatment. — The treatment, in some cases, is not attended 

 with very great success, although, in others, it is very successful, 

 depending, of course, on how much disease there is going on in 

 the joint The treatment is similar to spavin — the >iain object 

 being to set up what is known as anchylosis of the diseased joint, 

 tiiat is, to have the bones forming the joint become united solid 

 t« each other. As soon as this takes place, the lameness and 



