377 



kept completely at rest; and tliis condition is best secured by the 

 application of the plaster of Paris bandages, as in cases of fracture. 

 As a rule, patients take kindly to this bandage, and may be given the 

 freedom of a roomy box or yard while wearing it. If they are dis- 

 posed to tear it off, or if sufficient rest can not otherwise be secured, 

 the patient must be kept in slings. 



In the majority of instances the jilavSter bandage should remain on 

 from two to four weeks. If the lameness returns when the bandage 

 is removed, a new one should be i)ut on. The swelling, which alwaj^s 

 remains after the other evidences of the disease liave disappeared, 

 may be largely dissipated and the joint strengthened by the use of 

 the firing iron and blisters. 



A joint once injured by a severe sj^rain never entire!}^ regains its 

 original strength, and is ever after particularly liable to a repetition 

 of the injury. 



RUPTURE OF THE SUSPENSORY LIGAMENT. 



Sprain, with or without rupture, of the sii.spensory ligament may 

 happen in both the fore and hind legs, and is occasionally seen in 

 horses of all classes and at all ages. Old animals, however, and 

 especially hunters, runners, and trotters, are the most subject to this 

 injury, and with these classes the seat of the trouble is nearly always 

 in one, or both, the fore legs. Horses used for heavy draught are 

 more liable to have the ligament of the hind legs affected. 



AVhen the strain upon the suspensory ligament becomes too great 

 one or both of the branches may be torn from their attachments to the 

 sesamoid bones, one or both of the branches may be torn completely 

 across, or the ligament may ruiJture above the point of division. 



Synqjtoms. — The most common injury to the suspensory ligament 

 is sprain of the internal branch in one of the fore legs. The trouble 

 is proclaimed by lameness, heat, swelling and tenderness of the 

 affected branch, beginning just above the sesamoid bone and extend- 

 ing obliquely downward and forward to the front of the ankle. If 

 the whole ligament is involved the swelling comes on gradually, and 

 is found above the fetlock and in front of the flexor tendons. The 

 patient stands or walks upon the toe as much as possible, keeping 

 fetlock joint flexed so as to relieve the ligament of tension. 



When both branches are torn from their attachments to the sesa- 

 moids, or both are torn across, the lameness comes on suddenly and 

 is most intense; the fetlock descends, the toe turns up, and, as the 

 aninuil attempts to walk, the leg has the appearance of being broken 

 off at the fetlock. These symptoms, followed by heat, pain, and 

 swelling of the parts at the point of injury, will enable anyone to 

 make a diagnosis. 



Treatment. — Sprain of the suspensory ligament, no matter how mild 

 it may be, should always be treated by enforced rest of at least a 



