INTERFERING 



401 



Fig. 408. Three-quarter Shoe 



some defect of conformation. The danger resulting from it is not only that 

 it tends to disfigure and to provoke lameness in the animal itself, but 

 equally so in that it tends to stumbling and to imperil the safety of the 

 rider or driver. 



Symptoms. These are shown in the act of riding and driving by an 

 occasional stumble, or the animal may halt and go lame for a few strides,, 

 or continue so for some time, according to 

 the severity of the blow or the soreness of 

 the part from previous injury. Where the 

 injured limb has been recently struck, a very 

 slight blow on the previously injured part 

 will excite acute lameness. In some animals 

 the local symptoms are but slight, and seldom 

 exceed a superficial abrasion with slight 

 chronic thickening of the skin. In others 

 deep contusion results, when the part be- 

 comes hot, swollen, and painful to the touch, 

 or a serous abscess may develop, which will 

 be known by the sudden appearance of a soft, fluctuating enlargement 

 on the part struck. In cases where the injury is severe and deep matter is 

 sometimes formed, the leg becomes generally enlarged, and acute lameness 

 results. Chronic callous swellings arise after a repetition of such injuries,, 

 and the bones of the knee may become in- 

 volved in the disease. Where these latter 

 conditions exist the joint is imperfectly flexed, 

 and the action permanently impaired. 



Treatment. Simple contusions will re- 

 quire to be met by hot fomentations or hot 

 bandages applied to the injured part. This, 

 conjoined with rest and a mild dose of physic, 

 will generally suffice to effect a cure. Where 

 an abscess is developed, whether containing 

 serum or pus (matter), it must be laid open 

 and the contents evacuated. The wound 

 should then be freely irrigated with carbolic 

 or some other antiseptic solution, and covered 

 over with a pad of cotton-wool held on by 

 a firmly-adjusted bandage. If after the wound has healed any thickening 

 remains, a mild blister may be applied, and repeated once or more, if 

 necessary. Any enlargement of the part remaining after treatment will 

 render it liable to be injured again. 



60 



Fig. 409. South's Rational Shoe 

 (Charlier system). 



VOL. II. 



