CURB. 323 



with certainty be asserted that a " curb" has been thrown out. The 

 accident occurs somewhat suddenly ; but the swelling and inflam- 

 mation do not always show themselves until after a night's rest, 

 when the part is generally enlarged, hot, and tender. The precise 

 extent of the strain is of little consequence; for whatever its 

 nature, the treatment should be sufficiently active to reduce the 

 ligaments to their healthy condition. Some horses have naturally the 

 head of the external small metatarsal bone unusually large, and 

 the hock so formed that there is an angle between the large meta- 

 tarsal bone and the tarsus, leaving a prominence, which, however, 

 is hard and bony, and not soft and elastic, as is the case with curb. 

 Such hocks are generally inclined to throw out curbs; but there 

 are many exceptions, and some of the most suspicious-looking 

 joints have been known to stand sound for years. Curbs are seldom 

 thrown out by very old horses, and usually occur between the com- 

 mencement of breaking-in and the seventh or eighth year, though 

 they are not unfrequently met with in the younger colt, being occa- 

 sioned by his gambols over hilly ground. The treatment should 

 at first be studiously confined to a reduction of the inflammation ; 

 any attempt to procure absorption till this is effected being inju- 

 rious in the extreme. If there is much heat in the part, blood 

 may be taken from the thigh vein, the corn should be removed, 

 and a dose of physic given as soon as practicable. The curb 

 should then be kept wet (by means of a bandage lightly applied) 

 with the lotion recommended at page 316 for capped hocks, and 

 this should be continued until the inflammation is entirely gone. 

 During this treatment, in bad cases, a patten shoe should be kept 

 on, so as to keep the hock as straight as possible, and thus take 

 the strain ofi" the ligaments which are aff"ected. After the part 

 has become cool, it may be reduced in size, by causing absorption 

 to be set up ; which is best efi"ected by the application of mercury 

 and iodine (both of which possess that power), in such a shape as 

 to cause a blister of the skin. The biniodide of mercury has this 

 double advantage, and there is no application known to surgery 

 which will act equally well in efi'ecting the absorption of a curb. 

 It should be applied in the mode recommended at page 300, and 

 again rubbed on at an interval of about a week, for three or four 

 times in succession, when it will generally be found that the ab- 

 sorption of the unnatural swelling is efi"ected ; but the ligaments 

 remain as weak as before, and nothing but exercise (not too severe, 

 or it will inflame them again) will strengthen them sufficiently to 

 prevent a return. Friction with the hand, aided by a slightly 

 stimulating oil (such as neat's-foot and turpentine mixed, or neat's- 

 foot and oil of origanum, or, in fact, any stimulating essential oil), 

 will tend to strengthen the ligaments, by exciting their vessels to 

 throw out additional fibres ; and in course of time a curb may be 



