Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 53 1 



Ringbone is a bony growth at the coronet or on the pastern, in 

 either the front or hind legs. It is called "ringbone" because it often 

 grows around the coronet so as to form a ring, although in a large 

 number of cases the growth takes the form of a lump on the pastern, 

 rather than that of a ring at the hoof-head. This disease may result 

 from severe work in early life, from bruises, blows, or sprains, or from 

 improper shoeing. Ringbone often follows an abscess of the coronet, 

 or a deep-punctured wound. It is also classed as an hereditary un- 

 soundness, horses with short, upright pasterns being predisposed. 

 Ringbones often cause lameness which may disappear with exercise, 

 returning again when the animal is cooled. They may or may not 

 stiffen the joint. The size of the ringbone is not so important as its 

 position. If it is located so as to interfere with the movement of the 

 tendons behind or in front of the foot, it is a very serious trouble. 

 Prevention of ringbones consists in keeping foals well nourished, and 

 keeping the hoofs in balance. Curative measures consist of so shoe- 

 ing as to straighten the axis of the foot and pastern as viewed from 



A B C 



Fig. 212. — Ringbone and cocked ankle. A, Sound; B, ringbone; C, cocked ankle. 



the side; blistering, followed by a few weeks of rest; and point firing 

 in two or three lines over the ringbone. When these measures do not 

 relieve lameness, the only recourse is nerving. 



Roaring or thick wind. — Horses that make a loud, unnatural noise 

 in breathing are said to have thick wind, or to be roarers, excepting 

 those which manifest this trouble because of a severe sore throat. 

 Any obstruction of the free passage of air in some part of the respira- 

 tory tract may cause roaring; occasional causes are nasal polypi, thick- 

 ening of the membrane, pharyngeal polypi, deformed bones, paralysis 

 of the wing of the nostril, etc. However, chronic roaring is caused by 

 paralysis of the muscles of the larynx, thus permitting the cartilage 

 and vocal cord to lean into the tube of the larynx. The noise is made 

 during inspiration, and in far-advanced cases may be produced also 

 during expiration. A horse is tested for roaring by putting him to 

 severe exertion, as the sound is usually made only when at work. 

 Roaring is a serious unsoundness because it incapacitates an animal 

 for severe work, and it is a serious blemish because the noise is un- 



