STRAINS. 319 



and tenderness-, and in the well-bred horse, which is alone likely 

 to meet with a strain of this kind, the leg is rarely sufficiently 

 gummy to prevent the finger from making out the condition of the 

 ligaments and tendons. There is no giving away of the joints as 

 in " break-down," but on the contrary the leg is flexed, and if the 

 case is a bad one, the toe only is allowed to touch the ground. In 

 ordinary cases, however, there is merely slight swelling of the 

 suspensory ligament in a limited spot usually near its bifurcation, 

 or sometimes in one division only close above the sesamoid bone to 

 which it is attached. The horse can stand readily on that leg, 

 but on being trotted he limps a good deal. Sometimes, however, 

 there is a swelling of the feet without lameness, but in this case 

 the enlargement is generally due to an effusion of serum into the 

 cellular covering of the ligament, and not to an actual strain of its 

 fibres. The treatment will depend greatly upon the extent of the 

 mischief; if there is no great injury done, and the enlargement 

 is chiefly from effusion of serum, rest and cold applications by 

 means of bandages or otherwise will in the course of two or three 

 months effect a cure. Generally, however, the case will last six 

 or eight months before the ligament recovers its tone ; and in a 

 valuable horse no attempt should be made to work him before that 

 time. Where the swelling is small, as it generally is, bandages 

 have no power over it, as the projection of the flexor tendons keeps 

 the pressure off the injured part. Here, dipping the leg in a 

 bucket of water every hour will be of far more service than a 

 bandage, and the sudden shock of the cold water will be doubly 

 efficacious. After all heat has disappeared the biniodide of 

 mercury may be used as a blister two or three times, and then the 

 horse may either be turned out, or put into a loose box for three 

 or four months, after which walking exercise will complete the 

 cure. 



STRAIN OF THE BACK SINEWS. 



IN THIS ACCIDENT the position of the leg is the same as in 

 strain of the suspensory ligament, and there is no giving way of 

 the joints. The flexor tendons are enlarged, hot, and tender, and 

 there is great lameness, the horse having the power to flex the joints 

 below the knee, but resolutely objecting to extend them, by bearing 

 what little weight is unavoidable upon his toe. The case is often 

 confounded with a "break-down," but it may readily be distin- 

 guished by the fact that in the latter the joints give way on putting 

 the weight upon them, whilst in mere strains they do not, and 

 the tendency is to the opposite extreme. Frequently after a bad 

 strain of the flexor tendons, the fetlock is "over shot," or beyond 

 the upright, in consequence of the continued flexion of the joint, 

 to prevent pressure upon the injured fibres, and in the manage- 

 ment this result should be carefully guarded against. The injury 



