DISEASES OF THE FETI.OCK. ANKl.i:. AND lOOT. 399 



possible and a shoe put on with a lon<?, proj(>ctin<:: too j)ioce, slightly 

 turiiod up, while the heels of the shoe are to l)e nuule thin. 



Crookidfoot is that condition in whiih one side of the wall is 

 hi«i:her than the other. If the inside wall is the hijrher, the ankle is 

 thrown outward, so that the fetlock joints are ahnornially wide apart 

 and the toes close together. Aninuds with this deformity are 

 " pigeon-t(X?d," and are prone tt) inteifere. the inside toe striking the 

 op|)osite fetlcM'k. If but one foot is all'ected, the |i:ibility to inteifere 

 is still greater, for the reason that the fetlock <>l' the ]»crffct h-g is 

 nearer the center plane. 



When the outside heel is the higher the ankle is thrown in and tlie 

 toe turns out. Horses with such feet interfere with the heel. If but 

 one foot is so atFected, the liability to interfere is less than when both 

 feet are affected, for the reason that the ankle of the perfect leg is 

 not so near to the center plane. Such animals are especially liable to 

 stumbling and to lameness from injury to the ligaments of the fet- 

 h)ck joints. This deformity is to be overcome by such shoeing as will 

 c<|ualize the disparity in length of walls, and by i)rt)per boot< to 

 protect the fetlocks from interfeiing. 



INTERFERING. 



An animal is said to interfere when one foot strikes the opposite 

 leg, as it passes by, during locomotion. The inner surface of the 

 fetlock joint is the part most subject to this injury, although, under 

 certain conditions, it may happen to any part of the ankle. It is 

 seen more often in the hind than in the fore legs. Interfering 

 causes a bruise of the skin and deeper tissues, generally accompanied 

 with an abrasion of the surface. It may cause lameness, dangerous 

 tripping, and thickening of the injured parts. (See also j). :is7.) 



('au-st'H. — Faulty conformation is the most piolific cause of inter- 

 fering. ^^^len the bones of the leg are so united that the toe of the 

 foot tunis in (pigeon-toed), or when the fetlock joints are close 

 together and the toe turns out, when the leg is .so defoiined that the 

 whole foot and ankle turn either in or out, interfering is almost 

 sm-e to follow. It may happen, also, when the feet grow too long, 

 from defective shoeing, rough or slip|>ery i-oads. from the exiiaustion 

 of labor or sickness, swelling of the leg, high knee a'tion, fast woik, 

 and because the chest or hi])s are too narrow. 



Symptoms. — Generally, the evidences of interfering aie easily 

 detected, for the parts are tender, swollen, and the skin broken. V>\\t 

 very often, especially in trotters, the flat surface of the h(X)f strikers 

 the fetlock without evident injury, and attention is dire<'ted to these 

 parts only by the occasional tripping and unsteady gait. In such 

 cases proof of the cause may be had by walking and trotting the 



