BOG SPAVIN. 28? 



(iurins' a If^ng period, without return of lameness; but if one of those emergencies 

 should occur when all his energies require to be exerted, the disorganised and 

 weakened part will fail. The purchase, therefore, of a horse with enlarged hock 

 will depend on circumstances. If he has other excellences, he will not be uniformly 

 rejected ; for he may be ridden or driven moderately for many a year without incon- 

 venience, yet one extra hard day's work may lame him for ever. 



CURB. 



There are often injuries of particular parts of the hock-joint. Curb is an affection 

 of this kind. It is an enlargement at the back of the hock, three or four inclies below 

 its point. It is represented at d. p. -283, and is either a strain of the ring-like liga- 

 ment which binds the tendons in their place, or of the sheath of the tendons; oftener, 

 however, of the ligament than of the sheath. Any sudden action of the limb of more 

 than usual violence may produce it, and therefore horses are found to ' throw out 

 curbs' after a hardly-contested race, an extraordinary leap, a severe gallop over heavy 

 ground, or a sudden check in the gallop. Young horses are particularly liable to it, 

 and horses that are cow-hocked (vide cut, p. 283), — whose hocks and legs resemble 

 those of the cow, the hocks being turned inward, and the legs forming a considerable 

 angle outwards. This is intelligible enough; for in hocks so formed, the annular 

 ligament must be continually on the stretch, in order to confine the tendon. 



Curbs are generally accompanied by considerable lameness at their first appearance, 

 but the swelling is not always great. They are best detected by observing the leg 

 sideway. 



The first object in attempting the cure is to abate inflammation, and this will be 

 most readily accomplished by cold evaporating lotions frequently applied to the part. 

 Equal portions of spirit of wine, water, and vinegar, will aflbrd an excellent applica- 

 tion. It will be almost impossible to keep a bandage on. If the heat and lameness 

 are considerable, it will be prudent to give a dose of physic, and to bleed from the 

 subcutaneous vein, whose course is represented at r, p. 281 ; and whether the injury 

 's of the annular ligament, or the sheath of the tendon, more active means will be 

 necessary to perfect the cure. Either a liquid blister should be rubbed on the part, 

 consisting of a vinous or turpentine tincture of cantharides, and this daily applied 

 until some considerable swelling takes place ; or, what is the preferable plan, the hair 

 should be cut off, and the part blistered as soon as the heat has been subdued. The 

 blister should be repeated until the swelling has disappeared, and the horse goes 

 sound. In severe cases it may be necessary to fire ; but a fair trial, however, should 

 be given to milder measures. If the iron is used, it should be applied in straight 

 lines. 



There are few lamenesses in which absolute and long-continued rest is more requi- 

 site. It leaves the parts materially weakened, and, if the horse is soon put to work 

 again, the lameness will frequently return. No horse that has had curbs, should be 

 put even to ordinary work in less than a month after the apparent cure; and, even 

 then, he should very gradually resume his former habits. 



A horse with a curb, is manifestly unsound. A horse with the vestige of curb, 

 should be regarded with much suspicion, or generally condemned as unsound'. 



Curb is also an hereditary complaint; and therefore a horse that has once suffered 

 from it, should always be regarded with suspicion, especially if either of the parents 

 has exhibited it. 



BOG SPAVIN. 



The hock is plentifully supplied with reservoirs of mucus, to lubricate the different 

 portions of this complicated joint. Some of these are found on the inside of the joint, 

 which could not be represented in the cut, p. 286. From over-exertion of the joint, 

 they become inflamed, and considerably enlarged. They are wind-galls of the hock. 

 The subcutaneous vein passes over the inside of the hock, and over some of these 

 enlarged mucous reservoirs, and is compressed between them and the external integu- 

 ment — the course of the blood is partially arrested, and a portion of the vein below 

 the impediment, and between it and the next valve, is distended, and causes the soft 

 tumour on the inside of the heck, called Bog or Blood spavin. 



This is a very serious disease, attended with no great, but often permanent lame 

 ness, and too apt to return when the enlargement has subsided under medical treat 



