33^ 



ANIMAL MANAGEMENT. 



Speedy 



cutting, 



brushing 



and 



cutting. 



Speedy cutlmg, brushing a?id ctitti7to;. — These three accidents are all 

 caused by the animal striking the inside of the leg with the opposite foot 

 or shoe. 



Speedy cutting occurs just under the knee on the inside, and is caused 

 at the gallop by a blow from the inside toe of the opposite foot, horses 

 with crooked legs being most likely to do it. There may or may not be 

 an actual cut in the skin, but in any case the bruise is the most serious 

 part of the injury. The leg swells, is very painful, and when the blow is 

 often repeated a permanent enlargement remains. If very painful, 

 foment and afterwards apply a cold bandage ; shoe the opposite foot as 

 close as possible at the inside toe and quarter, rasping off some of the 

 wall if necessary, and rounding off the lower edge of the web of the shoe. 

 This injury is only likely to occur in riding horses, and those which do it 

 habitually are unsafe. Brushing is done at the trot and walk, and the 

 inside of the fetlock is the point struck. It may be caused accidentally 

 from animals being out of condition and over-tired, by the shoes being 

 too wide inside, or may be due to the conformation of the legs, 

 those in which the toes turn outwards from the fetlocks being most likely 

 to be injured. Protecting boots or pads m.ay be made of numnah or 

 blanket and tied round the leg above the fetlock, care being taken not to 

 bind the string or strap so tight as to make the leg swell. For turned- 

 out toes, brushing shoes should be fitted, these being thicker and 

 narrower on the inside quarter and heel and well bevelled under the foot 

 ("feather-edged"). The wound itself requires but sHght attention, 

 provided the cause be removed and the place protected from further 

 injury, and it only becomes serious when from constant repetition of the 

 blow the insides of the fetlocks get enlarged. Cutting or low brushing 

 occurs at the walk from the opposite foot striking the inside of the 

 coronet just where the horn and hoof join, and is not as a rule serious. 



Condition is the best preventive of these injuries. 



Treads a?td overreaches are practically the same injury, ^^•ith the 

 exception that the overreach is caused by the animal striking its own 

 foreleg with the hind foot, whereas the tread may be inflicted by another 

 animal. Overreaches occur either above the fetlock of the foreleg 

 (high overreach) or on the side of the coronet and back of the heels (low 

 overreach) ; treads are generally found on the outside of the coronets and 

 sometimes above the fetlock in the hind-legs. When severe they are 

 most serious injuries, the tendons being cut through, or the coronets 

 severely lacerated and bruised. In all cases, the wound being inflicted 

 by a downward blow, there is generally an underlip of skin hanging from 

 it, and in bandaging it, care should be taken to do so in such a manner 



