Book VII. DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 9S7 



Sill Capulct is a bursal enlargement of the point of the hock, and is to be treated by friction, astringents 

 and bandage. 



6513. Curb is an inflammation of the ligaments at the back of the hock, and is usually removed by 

 astringents. ( Vet. Pharm. 6555.) When it does not give way to these, the sweating liquid blister may be 

 applied. {Vet. Pharm. 6563.) 



6514. Cracks and grease maybe considered as modifications of one and the same affection, and are com. 

 monly brought on by some neglect in all horses; but when they occur in any but the thick. heeled low- 

 bred animals, they are invariably so. Over-feeding or underfeeding, but much more frequently the former, 

 will bring it on. A very frequent cause of it is the practice of washing the legs of horses, and suffering 

 them to dry of themselves. In every case, without exception, washing the legs should be avoided, unless 

 they be rubbed perfectly dry afterwards. 'When horses have long hairs about their heels, and are washed 

 and then left wet, the evil must be doubled ; as the evaporation going on, cools and chills the heels, and 

 thus produces a species of chilblain: and we well know how difficult these are to heal when broken. 

 Cracks in the heels very often occur in horses removed too suddenly inlo full keep from previous straw or 

 grass, or from these to a hot stable; which, by the heat and moisture of the litter, occasions a determin- 

 ation of blood and humours to the legs, and they break out into cracks or scabs, from which issue a bloody 

 ichor, or a more thick matter. Between the sores the hair stares and gets pen-feathered, and the horse 

 finds difficulty and pain in moving. 



6515. The treatment must depend on the state in which the animal is at present. If there be reason to 

 suspect the horse to be full and foul, bleed, lower his food, soil him in thestaSle; or mash and give a mild 

 dose of physic. But when some mismanagement is the sole cause, remove that, and if the case be a severe 

 one, by means of an old stocking drawn over the foot, bury the whole heel in a poultice, made of scraped 

 carrots or turnips ; which will subdue the irritation, and bring the parts into a state to bear the application 

 of the astringent paste {Vet. Fharm. 65o/. No. 2.\ or if more convenient, of the astringent wash. {Vet. 

 Pharm. 6555. Xo. 1. or 2.) Moderate exercise should be continued, and the heels carefully cleaned from 

 dirt by soft soap and water on each return therefrom ; after which, always again apply the astringent. 



6516. Grease is nothing more than an aggravated state of the same affection, and is more common to the 

 hind than to the fore legs. Coarse fleshy-legged horses are peculiarly prone to the affection, from the 

 great accumulation that takes place in their legs ; and from the difficulty that the capillaries find in carry- 

 ing the increased quantity of lymph upwards. In these, long stable confinement should be avoided, aiid 

 when that is impossible, it should be counteracted by exercise frequently and judiciously administered. 

 Many cart horses never go out hut to work : they often work three days incessantly, or nearly so; and 

 they perhaps rest two days entirely. Can it be wondered at, that the change occasions swelling, acting 

 on the weakness and exhaustion of previous fatigue? and could not this be avoided by turning out for 

 an hour, or walking for half an hour night and morning ? Stable soiling should be used ; bleeding and 

 physicking also in very bad cases; and when the inflammation and irritation or soreness are great, the 

 poultices recommended for cracks should be applied until these circumstances are removed: afterwards 

 commence the use of some of the astringents recommended. {Vet. Pharm. 6555.) White has stated two 

 remarkable cases of grease cured by the application of corrosive sublimate, in the form of a wash, as of 

 two drach?ns nf sublimate to ten ounces of water ; increasing it to three drachms, if the pain occasioned 

 by the first be not too considerable. Blaine says that the clivers or goose-grass has been known to be of 

 great service in bad cases of grease : half a pint of the expressed juice to be given daily as a drink ; and a 

 poultice ot the herb to be applied to the heels. In some cases of long standing when the running has 

 ceased, a thickened state of the limb remains, which is best removed by firing, and which likewise is a 

 preventive to a return. 



Subsect. 9. Diseases of the Feet. 



6517. Founder of the feet is of two .kinds acute and chronic. Acute founder is a disease that, until 

 lately, was less understood than almost any other. After a very severe day's work, or when very much 

 heated, if a horse get a sudden chill by standing in snow or cold water, it is not uncommon for him to be 

 seized with universal stiffness and every symptom of great fever. Such a horse is said to be body foun- 

 dered. By degrees, however, it is observed that the animal has an extreme disinclination to remain on 

 his feet; from whence it will appear that the whole of them are affected. When the horse draws his 

 hind feet under him, his fore only are affected : and when he draws his fore feet under him, the hinder 

 feet are the seat of the complaint ; but which is seldom the case. On feeling the feet they will be found 

 intensely hot, and the pastern arteries will beat with great violence. After a few days, unless the disease 

 abate, a separation of the hoofs from the coronet takes place, and at last they fall entirely off. 



6518. The treatment. At the commencement of the disease bleed largely, as well by the neck as from 

 the toe of each affected foot, by paring, until the blood flows freely. After which immerse each foot in 

 a goulard poultice ,6536.), give the fever powder or drink {Vet. Pharm. 6578 and 6579.), litter up to the 

 belly ; and if amendment do not take place, renew the bleedings, and blister round the pasterns. 



fw!9. Chronic founder, contraction or fever in the feet. The artificial life that horses lead subjects them 

 to many diseases ; one of the principal of which is that of contracted feet. Blaine considers a neglect of 

 sufficient paring of hoof, the application of artificial heat from hot stables, and hotter litter, the depri- 

 vation of natural moisture, constitutional liability, and the existence of thrushes, as among the principal 

 causes of this evil. It is more common to blood horses than to others ; and he observes, that dark chest- 

 nuts are of all others most prone to it. The appearances of a contracted foot, as contrasted with a healthy- 

 one, we have already displayed. (6420 ) It is there shown that the contracted hoof becomes longer, 

 higher, and narrower : the heels (fig. 837. a c x particularly are drawn in, and seem to screw the frog 

 between them, which becomes wasted and thrush) from this pressure. The hinder hoofs are seldom 

 affected. 



6520. The treatment of contraction in the feet. It is better to prevent, than to be under the necessity of 

 attempting to cure, the evil. Prevention may be practised by avoiding the acting causes. As soon as .it 

 all suspected to be likely to occur, keep the hoofs pared low; never suffer the horse to stand on litter, nor 

 allow the stable to be too hot; feed moderately, and never allow the horse to go without daily exercise ; 

 whatever increases the general fulness of habit, flies to the feet. Above all, keep the feet moist by means 

 of wet cloths tied loosely around the coronet, falling over the whole hoof, but not extending beyond the 

 edge. Then moisten repeatedly, and stop the feet ,6587) every night. When contraction has already 

 taken place, many plans have been recommended ; as jointed shoes by Coleman, Clark, and others ; but it 

 is not found that mechanical expansion in this way produces permanent benefit. The most effectual mode 

 is to obviate all previous causes of contraction ; and then to thin the hoofs around the heels from each 

 quarter so thin as to be able to produce an impression by means of the thumb : in fact, to remove so much 

 of the horn as is consistent with safety, from the coronet downwards. It is also prudent to put in a score 

 or two from above downwards, drawn a quarter of an inch deep on each side towards the front of the hoot ; 

 but whether this be done or not, the front of the hoof should be rasped thin about an inch ki width ; by 

 which means a hinge is formed, which operates most advantageously in opening the heels. After this is 

 done, tips should be put on, and the horse should be turned out to grass, where he should remain tin. e 

 months, bv which time the new formed heels will have reached the ground, and will bear a shoe, fins 

 process is fully described by Blaine in his Veterinary Outlines, where a plate completely elucidates the 

 operation, and to which we would recommend the reader. 



6521. The pumiced foot is a verv common consequence of acute founder, in which the elasticity oi the 

 lamina; becoming destroyed, the support of the coll. n bone is removed, and it rests wholly on the sole. 



