53 



fluid drawn off, but great care is required to distinguish the serous 

 effusion from the synovial secretion, and if the synovial bursa was 

 punctured it might lead to serious consequences. The Synovial 

 Capped Hock is generally not so painful as the serous variety, but is 

 more deeply seated, and is best treated by repeated applications of 

 20 per cent, of Oleate of Mercury. 



160. Curb is known by an enlargement on the back and lower 

 part of the hock joint where the heads of the small metatarsal bones join 

 the lower row of bones of the hock [see Plate IX. No. 38). We have 

 two kinds of Curb — false, and true. False Curb is due to a sharp blow 

 on the part, causing an effusion of serum under the skin. The 

 treatment for it consists of hot fomentations, or cold water applications, 

 followed by an iodine blister. [See Appendix.) 



161. True Curb is of a more serious nature, and consists either of a 

 sprain of the tendons passing over the seat of curb, or laceration of the 

 calcaneo-citboid ligament, at its attachments to the cuboid and outer 

 small metatarsal bone. This is caused by over-exertion, as when 

 galloping, jumping, rearing up, &c. Some breeds of horses have joints 

 naturally predisposed to Curb — called Curby or Sickle Hocks — and, 

 therefore, of congenital formation. In Sickle Hecks, the head of the 

 metatarsal is set too far back ; and the OS calcis, the upper end of 

 which forms the point of the hock, is too short and straight up, forming 

 a narrow joint, or " tied-in " hock, with a sharp angle at the lower part 

 of the front of it. This class of joint is more subject to curb than a 

 well-formed, broad, and developed one. When the enlargement is 

 seen, and the animal is noticed to be lame, or the part found to be 

 tender, it should be put off work, and cooling applications used — such 

 as the hose-pipe irrigation of cold water, or a cold water bandage — 

 until the inflammation is reduced ; then, iodine or fly- blisters must be 

 used, but the best and most satisfactory treatment for Curb, or Curby 

 Hocks, is to fire, in lines. I know of no complaint, except Bone Spavin 

 (Pars. 115 and 116), on which firing has such a beneficial effect as Curb. 



162. Sprung Hock. — This injury varies very much in degree ; in 

 slight cases, the ligaments only may be affected, but in more severe 



