FRACTURES. 87 



the hips, and a peculiar loose motion of the hind leg al- 

 most giving way every step the horse makes. There are 

 no diseases this can be mistaken for in the hind leg or 

 hip. This fracture is produced in a moment, and even 

 whilst the horse is trotting, he will stop all at once as if 

 he was shot. Fracture of the hip, I say hip, so as the 

 unprofessional reader will better understand, but it is 

 the bone of the pelvis. The mere name will not amount 

 to much, for the treatment is, let it alone, and it will get 

 well in three months of itself without any interference 

 from medicine or art. Turn the horse out for a few 

 months, either in pasture or in the barn-yard, and give 

 him plenty to eat. 



Fracture of the ribs will require no treatment, except 

 it may be a few days' rest. Sometimes a swelling will 

 be seen on the side of a horse having a broken rib, in a 

 few days after the accident. It may form an abscess ; if 

 so, have it opened to let but the matter; and if it should 

 not become soft and hold matter, let it alone, as it will 

 do little harm. Or the application for a few times, say 

 once a week for three weeks, of the ointment of iodine. 

 (See Prescriptions and Medicines.) 



Fractures of the simple kind, in various parts of the 

 body, take place, and when such is the case, and they 

 do not interfere with any action or function of the body, 

 they can be assisted only in so far as bandage and splint 

 are concerned, so as to secure the ends in proper posi- 

 tion. This will require some ingenuity, and cannot be 

 described, as a bone is not always broken at one place, 

 nor is it always of one set kind of break. The means 

 will on these occasions have to meet the ends required of 

 them in the best way possible. Sometimes pieces of 

 broken bone will have to be taken out, where the bone 



