392 CAPPED HOCK. THE HIXD LEG. 



being present wlien the examination took place. ' The patient "vvas a 

 harness horse of nnusual perfection, both in shajDe and action, and was a 

 great favourite with a late illustrious personage. He suddeidy became 

 lame behind on the off-leg, but without the least accident or alteration of 

 structure to account for it. He was turned out for a short time, and the 

 lameness disappeared. He was then incaiitiously made to perform his 

 usual work, until perfectly incapacitated for it by i-e turning and aggra- 

 vated lameness. Suspecting the seat of lameness to be in the hock, 

 although the joint was perfectly unaltered in form, he was, three months 

 after the commencement of the lameness, blistered and fired, and placed 

 either in a loose place or paddock, as circumstances seemed to require. 

 'Not the least amendment took place at the end of six months, even in liis 

 quiescent state, and, after tAvelve months from the time of his being given 

 up for treatment, he was destroyed, his case being naturally considered 

 a hopeless one. Ulceration of the synovial membrane was found, taking 

 its origin between the two cuneiform bones. These bones had become 

 carious, and the disease had gradually extended itself to other parts of the 

 joint. Mr. Goodwin had no doubt that if the animal had been suffered 

 to work on for any greater length of time, necrosis, or anchylosis of every 

 bone concerned in the hock, would have been the uesult.' These opinions 

 of the seat and nature of obscure hock-lameness are now maintained by 

 the majority of veterinai-y surgeons, although some of them differ a Httle 

 with regard to the articulation that is generally affected, and the manner 

 in which the depressions or excavations on the surffice of these bones is 

 eff'ected. 



CAPPED HOCK. 



The point of the hock is sometimes swelled. A soft fluctuating tumour 

 appears on it. 



It is seldom accompanied by lameness, and yet it is a somewhat serious 

 business, for it is usually produced by blows, and mostly by the injuries 

 which the horse inflicts upon himself in the act of kicking : therefore it 

 is that a horse with a capj)ed hock is very properly regarded with a 

 suspicious eye. The whole of the hock should be carefully examined, in 

 order to discover whether there are other marks of \'iolence, and the 

 previous history of the animal should be carefully enquired into. Does he 

 kick in harness or in the stall, or has he been lying on a thin bed, or on 

 no bed at all ; and thus may the hock have been bruised, and the swelling 

 produced ? 



It is exceedingly difficult to apply a bandage over a capped hock ; and 

 pimcturing the tumour, or passing a seton through it, would be a most 

 injudicious practice. Blisters, or iodine, repeated as often as may be 

 necessary, are the best means to be employed. Occasionally the tumour 

 will spontaneously disappear ; but at other times it will attain a large size, 

 or assume a callous sti-ucturc, that will bid defiance to all the means that 

 can be employed. 



THE HIND LEG. 



The line of -direction of the legs beneath the hocks should not be 

 disregarded. The leg should descend perpendicularly to the fetlock. The 

 weight and stress will thus be equally diffused, not only over the whole of 

 the hock, but also the pasterns and the foot. Some horses have their hocks 

 closer than usual to each other. The legs take a divergent direction out- 

 ward, and the toes also are turned outward. These horses are said to be 

 Cat or Coiv-hocl-ed. They are generally supposed to possess considerable 

 speed. Perhaps they do so ; and it is thus accounted for The cow-hocked 



