326 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



time, a little matter was observed issuing from a transverse crack, 

 or fissure, in the coronet. This immediately led me to suspect 

 that matter was confined under the sole. On paring it away, 

 this was found to be the case ; and so far had the matter pene- 

 trated, that it was found necessary to remove about one half of 

 the horny sole. The same treatment was adopted as in the 

 former case, and the horse gradually recovered. This case shows 

 how necessary it is to examine every part minutely before a 

 severe operation is resorted to; and may teach the young prac- 

 titioner, that he should never trust to the smith on these occa- 

 sions, but depend only on his own investigation. 



On Lameness from Cutting. 



In cutting, a horse sometimes strikes himself so severely, or in 

 so tender a part, as to cause lameness for a short time, but 

 generally it soon wears off, and he goes on again very well until 

 the blow is repeated. When the blow is inflicted on the inside, 

 and lower part of the knee joint, it is called the speedy cut, be- 

 cause it commonly happens when the horse is trotting fast. The 

 pain this occasions is so severe, that the horse often falls down 

 suddenly from it, which causes it to be considered a very dan- 

 gerous failing, more especially as it is a faihng that is not easily 

 remedied. In carriage horses, the best remedy is to drive them 

 without a bearing rein, which enables them to go with more 

 ease, and without that high action which this gagging rein occa- 

 sions : at the same time the shoeing should be attended to, and 

 when the part of the foot or shoe (most frequently it is the 

 former) which inflicts the injury has been discovered, it should 

 be rasped away as much as can be done with safety or propriety. 

 I have seen a severe lameness produced by a horse striking his 

 fetlock joint, which continued for several days, and was mistaken 

 for an injury of the shoulder, because, though it was evident the 

 horse had struck the fetlock joint, he had not even knocked off 

 the hair. Upon a careful examination, I found he had struck 

 that part over which the nerve passes, and had left it so tender 

 that the horse could scarcely bear to have it touched.* 

 Cutting is often a consequence of weakness or fatigue ; in such 

 cases the remedy is obvious. The part most commonly injured 



* Sometimes considerable swelling, as well as lameness, is produced on the 

 inside of the leg by repeated striking, although there may be no external 

 wound. Such case requires poultices and fomentations ; an abscess generally 

 forms, through which a seton should be passed so as to secure a depending 

 opening. Large splents, from their prominence, frequently occasion cutting, 

 particularly when they are situated near the fetlock joint; and sometimes 

 cutting produces bony enlargements on the inside of the leg, which, by re- 

 peated blows, increase greatly in size. — Ed. 



