LAMENESS IN THE HIND LEG 255 



pleted. This requires from six weeks to two months' time. In 

 addition, the extremity is kept in a state of extension by means 

 of suitabk- si)lints ;uid shoes, — a shoe equipped with an exten- 

 sion at the toe and perforated so that a steel l)raee may be hooked 

 into the perforation and the brace fashioned to be buckled to 

 the upper metatarsal region. When braces are placed in front 

 of the foot, great care is necessary in properly padding the mem- 

 ber with cotton lest sloughing from pressure occurs at the coro- 

 net ; but this does not apply in rupture of extensors so nuich 

 as where flexors are ruptured. 



Open wounds are treated along general surgical lines, dressed 

 as frequently as occasion demands, and recovery will ]:e complete 

 in a few months' time unless much of the tendon has been de- 

 stroyed. In one instance, the author had occasion to observe 

 such a condition, which, because of the extensive destruction 

 of tendon and lack of facilities for giving proper attention to 

 the subject, results were so unfavorable that it was deemed 

 necessary to destroy the animal. 



Wounds From Interfering. 



When, during locomotion, injury is inflicted upon the mesial 

 side of an extremity by the swinging foot of the other member, 

 the condition is termed interfering. 



Etiolog-y and Occurrence. — Faulty conformation, bad shoe- 

 ing and over-work are the prineipal causes of interfering. 

 Horses that are 'M)ase narrow" or that have crooked legs are 

 quite apt to interfere. Shoes that are put on a foot that is not 

 level or applied in a twisted position, or shoes wide at the heel 

 will often cause interfering and injury. Animals that are driven 

 at fast work until they become nearly exhausted may be expected 

 to interfere. Such cases are frequently observed in \oung horses 

 that are driven over rough roads, particularly when so neai'ly 

 •exhausted or weakened from disease or inanition that the feet 

 are dragged forward rather than picked up and advanced in 

 the normal manner. 



Symptomatology.— Wounds inflicted by striking the extrem- 

 ities in this manner present various appearances and occasion dis- 



