LAMENESS IN THE FORE LEG 89 



Casts are used by some and serve very well in many cases ; but 

 because of their bulk and unyielding and rigid nature, they are 

 not well adapted to use on fractures of bones proximal to the 

 carpus and tarsus. This is in reference to plaster-of-paris casts 

 or those of any similar material. 



Appliances which depend on glue or other adhesive substances 

 combined with leather, wood or fiber for their support, are effi- 

 cacious but not comfortable. 



The use of heavy leather when the member has been suitably 

 padded with cotton and bandages, constitutes a very good man- 

 ner of reducing fracture of the radius or of the tibia. Leather 

 when cut to fit both the medial and lateral sides of a leg, and 

 firmly held with bandages, will form a firm support that yields 

 slightly to changes of position, thus making for comfort of the 

 subject. 



Such a splint or support should extend from the fetlock region 

 to the elbow, but the cotton and bandages are to reach to the 

 foot. When one considers that, with the supportive appliance 

 placed on each side of the affected member, rigidity is accom- 

 plished as much from tensile strain put upon the leather as from 

 its own stiffness, it is seen that the leather need not be of the 

 heaviest — sole leather is unnecessary. Because of the more com- 

 fortable immobilizing appliance, the subject is less restive, and 

 chances for a successful outcome are materially increased 

 thereby. 



In the mature subject, six or eight weeks' time is required 

 for union of the parts to occur suf^ciently so that splints may 

 be dispensed with. Rearrangement of the supportive apparatus, 

 however, is possible and usually necessary during the first few 

 weeks of treatment. By employing care in handling the parts, 

 the subject will be unlikely to do itself injury at the time read- 

 justment of splints is being effected. 



In foals, it is best to give them the run of a box stall with 

 the mother. Being agile, they get up and lie at will without 

 doing injury to the fractured member. The splints (leather is 

 preferable in these cases also) are looked after and readjusted 

 as necessity demands. 



Three or four weeks time is all that is required for the average 



