• DISEASES OF THE FETLOCK, ANKLE, AND FOOT. 



By A. A. HoLcoMBE, D. V. S., 

 Inspector, Bureau of Animal Industry. 



[Revised in 1903 by the author.] 

 ANATOMICAL REVIEV/' OF THE FOOT. 



In a description of the foot of the horse it is customary to include- 

 only the hoof and its contents, yet, from a zoological standpoint, the 

 foot includes all the leg from the knee and the hock down. 



The foot of the horse is undoubtedly the most important part of 

 the animal, in so far as veterinarj^ surgery is concerned, for the reason 

 that this member is subject to so many injuries and diseases, which., 

 in part or in whole, render the patient unfit for the labor demanded 

 of him. The old aphorism, "no foot no horse," is as true to-day as"- 

 when first expressed; in fact, domestication, coupled with the multi- 

 plied uses to which the animal is put, and the constant reproduction^ 

 of hereditary defects and tendencies, have largely transformed the-- 

 ancient "companion of the wind" into a very common piece of 

 machiner}^ which is often out of repair, and, at best, is but short-liv^cd. 

 in its usefulness. 



Since the value of the horse depends largely, or even entirely, upon 

 his abilit}^ to labor, it is essential that his organs of locomotion should 

 be kept sound; and to accomplish this end it is necessary not only tc- 

 know how to cure all diseases to which these organs are liable, but. 

 better still, how to prevent them. 



An important prerequisite to the detection and cure of disease is a. 

 knowledge of the construction and function of the parts which may be 

 involved in the diseased process; hence, first of all, the anatomical, 

 structures must be understood. 



The hones of the fetlock and foot constitute the skeleton on which; 

 the other structures are built, and comprise the lower end of the can- 

 non bone (the metacarpus in the fore leg, the metatarsus in the hind 

 leg), the two sesamoids, the large pastern or suflfraginis, the small pas- 

 tern or coronet, the coffinbone, or os pedis, and the small sesamoid.^, 

 or navicular bone. (Plate XXXII, fig. 3.) 



The cannon lone extends from the knee or hock to the fetlock, i& 

 cylindrical in shape, and stands nearly or quite perpendicular. 



14384—03 24 369 



