DISEASES AND TREATMENT OF THE HORSE. 197 



Causes. — The same as in ringbone, certain breeds of horses 

 are nearly all spavined, for it come> on in a hereditary form, that 

 is where the dam or sire is affected with spavin and thei«- colts be- 

 come affected with spavin, and so on for gfenerations of horses. 

 A great many horses have spavins in this way, therefore you will 

 see the necessity of breeding- good, sound horses, although when 

 a spavin comes on from some well marked cause, such as from 

 hard work, or from a severe sprain of the joint or an injury, such 

 as a kick from another horse, it is all right to breed from these. 

 Symptoms. — Are very plain and easily noticed as a general 

 rule. Inquire into the history of the case ; how long the animal 

 has been lame and how he acts when travelling. If the horse 

 steps shorter than natural and strikes the toe first in putting 

 down the foot. If he is noticed very lame in starting off after 

 standing for a while, or from being kept in the stable over night, and 

 gets better after he goes a mile or so, and the further he goes the 

 less he shows the lameness, then look for a spavin ; if there is an 

 enlargement you can easily see it, but if it is an occult spavin 

 there will be no enlargement, just heat and soreness in the parts. 

 When the above symptoms are present you may be sure it is a 

 spavin. After a time the muscles of the hip on the side he is 

 lame on will waste away from not being properly used. You 

 must not let this symptom mislead you as to where the lameness 

 is. As the enlargement grows the lameness will increase. 



Treatment is the same as in ringbone. Try and get the 

 diseased joint to become united and form what is called anchylosis 

 of the joint, then the soreness and lameness will disappear ; but 

 on account of there being no movement in the joint, the animal 

 will not have as free use of the leg as he had before he got the 

 spavin, but may be very serviceable for a number of years after 

 being cured. High-up spavins are very much harder to cure than 

 the low-down or jack spavin, for they affect the largest articula- 

 tion in the hock joint, but they are treated just the same. It is 

 always best to first try a blister on spavins before firing, for in 

 some cases a blister will cure them all right. Blister with the 

 following receipt : 



Biniodid of Mercury or Red Precipitate 2 drams. 



Vaseline or Lard 1 ounce. 



Mix thoroughly together. There will be enough in this 



receipt to blister an ordinary sized spavin twice. Apply half of it 



over the inside of the hock where the enlargement is; rub in 



