DISEASES OF THE LEGS 251 



mild liniment, which will not blister or burn the skin. 



Most important of all, and this applies to all knee- 

 sprung horses, they should be fed from the floor, their 

 toes should be kept short, and they should be shod with 

 moderate heel calks, or perhaps better, their shoes 

 should be made thicker at the heels. 



A horse may become knee-sprung from defective feet 

 in this way — if his feet are sore, he will stand in an 

 unnatural position in order to take the strain of his 

 weight from the sore part of his feet as much as pos- 

 sible; and the unnatural position of the foot involves, 

 of course an unnatural position of the legs. 



Some experts maintain that this defect Is always 

 caused by bad feet, and certainly If a horse becomes 

 knee-sprung his feet should be carefully Inspected, and 

 looked after. A contracted hoof is especially liable to 

 result in sprung knees. 



WINDGALLS 



These are distensions of the sheaths through which 

 the tendons play. The most frequent cause is driving 

 the horse too far or working him too hard when he is 

 "soft" or out of condition. Overloading a horse or 

 driving him too fast In a heavy vehicle are also frequent 

 causes. 



Colts and young horses are especially liable to in- 

 juries of this kind. Usually windgalls do not cause 

 lameness, but If lameness or fever is present, the treat- 

 ment should be rubbing with alcohol, then applying 

 bandages soaked in alcohol with a dry bandage outside. 



There is no way of removing windgalls except by 



