DISEASES OF THE HOKSE. 347 



low line firing'. In these cases shoeing- is veiy important. Leave the 

 quarters long, shorten the toe, give the shoe rolling motion, and either 

 put short heel calks on the branches or thicken the branches. Although 

 this line of treatment is efficacious in many cases, there are others in 

 which the thickening of the tendons refuses to yield and the changed 

 tissues remain firml}^ organized, leaving them in the form of a thick 

 mass resting upon the back part of the cannon bone. 



KXrCKLIXG OF FETLOCK. 



As a consequence of the last-mentioned lesion of the tendons a new 

 condition presents itself in the articular disposition, constituting the 

 deformity known as the hnucMing fetlocl-. 



By this is meant a deformity of the fetlock joint by which the nat- 

 ural angle is changed from that which pertains to the healthy articu- 

 lation. The lirst pastern or suffraginis loses its oblique direction and 

 assumes another, which varies from the upright to the oblique, from 

 before backwards, and from above downwards; in other words, form- 

 ing an angle with its apex in front. 



Causes. — This condition, as we have seen, may 1)6 the result of 

 chronic disease producing structural changes in the tendons, and it 

 maj" also occur as the result of other affections or some peculiarity 

 independent of this and situated below the fetlock, such as ringbones, 

 sidebones, or traumatic disease of the foot proper. Animals are 

 sometimes predisposed to knuckling, such, for example, as are natur- 

 ally straight in their pasterns, or animals which are compelled to labor 

 when too j^oung. The hind legs are more predisposed than the fore 

 to this deformitv, in consequence of the greater amount of labor they 

 are required to perform as the propelling levers of the body. 



Symptoms. — The symptoms of knuckling are easily recognized. 

 The changes in the direction of the bones vary more or less with the 

 degree of the lesion, sometimes assuming such a direction that it 

 almost becomes a true dislocation of the pastern. 



The effect of knuckling upon the gait also varies according- to the 

 degree of the deformity. As the different degrees of the shortening 

 of the leg affect the motion of the fetlock the lameness may be very 

 slight or quite extreme. Another consequence of this shortening is 

 such a change in the position of the foot that the heels cease to come 

 in contact with the ground and assume a greater elevation, and the 

 final result of this is soon witnessed in the development of a ciuhfoot. 



Treatment. — To whatever cause the knuckling ma}^ be ascribed it is 

 always a severe infirmity, and there is but little room for hoping to 

 overcome it unless it be during the very first stages of the trouble, 

 and the hope dwindles to still smaller dimensions when it is secondary 

 to other diseases below the fetlock. If it is caused b}^ overworking 

 the animal, the first indication will, of course, be rest. Line firing has 



