50 THE COMPLETE FARRIER, 



The Bone-Spavin. 



Although this is a common disorder among horses, yet it 

 is little understood hy either breeders or farriers. The Bone- 

 spavin is a bony excrescence, or hard swelling, on the inside 

 of the hock of a horse's leg, and sometimes owes its origin 

 to kicks and blows, and sometimes to natural causes ; but in 

 the former case it is much more easily cured than in the lat- 

 ter ; and those that grow spontaneously on colts, or young 

 horses, are not so bad as those that appear in horses that 

 have arrived at their full strength and maturity. In old 

 horses they are generally incurable. 



Sometimes the horse is very lame when the Spavin is first 

 coming out, and when it has come out is better for some time, 

 and then grows lamer again as the bone hardens. I would 

 advise you to apply a blister as soon as you have any suspi- 

 cion that a horse is likely to put out a spavin, and to con- 

 tinue blistering, every fortnight, for some time, by which 

 means you may stop a Spavin in a young horse. 



Curb. — Mild medicines should be used if the horse i3 

 young, as they will in a short time wear the tumor down by 

 degrees, which is much better than trying to remove it at 

 once by severer methods, which often have a very bad ef- 

 fect, and produce worse consequences than those they were 

 intended to remove. But in full-grown horses other treat- 

 ment is necessary. The following ointment is probably the 

 best that can be used : 



2 ounces of Cantharides. 



4 ounces of Mercurial Ointment 

 I- 3 ounces of Tincture of Iodine. 



4 ounces of Turpentine. 



3 drams of Corrosive Sublimate. 



Mix with 2 pounds of Lard. 



Cut off the hair from the part affected, and grease tho- 

 roughly with the ointment thus made, rubbing it in well with 

 the naked hand. Let it remain two days, then grease the 

 part with lard. In two days more wash it off with soap and 

 water, and then apply the ointment again. Continue this 

 till a cure is effected. By these means Bone-spavin may 

 often be cured ; but when they fail, recourse must be had to 

 firing. 



Before you fire a horse for the Bone-spavin, be careful to 

 take the vein out of the way, for it generally lies over the 

 Spavin, and you can not fire deep enough to come at the cal- 

 lous substance without its removal. In order to destroy the 

 vein, cut a nick through the skin upon it, just below the 

 Spavin, and another just above it, and put a crooked needle 



