ACCIDENTS TO THE LEGS AND FEEL 413 



moving the lameness; and if there is no ulceration, and merely an 

 adhesion of the tendon to the bone, it will, by causing the horse to 

 step more on his heels, effect an absolute improvement in the shape 

 of the foot, and hence it has sometimes been considered to have 

 produced a cure. Where, however, there is caries of the bone, 

 or even ulceration of the synovial membrane, the disease progresses 

 even faster than before the operation, and in process of time the 

 joint becomes mechanically unfit to perform its duties. 



ACCIDENTS TO THE LEGS AND FEET. 



These parts are subject to a variety of accidents, trifling 

 perhaps in the cause which produces them, but serious in their 

 efi'ects, from the lameness which ensues. The chief of these are 

 ordinary cutting, speedy cutting, and pricks of the foot either 

 from putting the sole down upon a nail or a piece of glass, or driv- 

 ing a nail improperly in shoeing. Bruises and over-reaches also 

 come under this head. 



Ordinary cutting may occur either before or behind, the lat- 

 ter being the more common. It is often met with in poor horses, 

 where the flesh is so reduced in substance that the legs are brought 

 nearer together than in a proper condition. Here all that is re- 

 quired is patience, till the legs are restored to their proper relative 

 position, taking care in the mean time that there is no permanent 

 injury done. Usually the inside of one or both feet strikes the 

 the fetlock joint of the other leg in passing it, but sometimes the 

 blow is given higher up, and it may occur anywhere on the cannon 

 bone except just below the knee, when it is called "speedy cut- 

 ting," which will be separately considered. Sometimes this blow 

 on the side of the cannon bone is either the cause or the efi"ect of 

 a splint, the blow of the foot having a tendency to produce exos- 

 tosis (See Splints, page 298). But if a splint is thrown out on a 

 part of the cannon bone which comes in the way of the natural 

 action, the horse whose foot previously passed clear of that part 

 of the other leg will hit it, and not only give pain, but cause a 

 considerable access of inflammation in the previous enlargement. 

 In the treatment, therefore, of cutting, it is necessary to prevent 

 the habit being continued from the swelling produced either by a 

 splint or by previous blows. A horse perhaps, either from weak- 

 ness or bad shoeing, hits his leg and produces considerable swell- 

 ing and soreness. Here, unless the swelling is reduced or pro- 

 tected, there is no chance of preventing the cutting, because there 

 is a projection of the swollen soft parts right in the way of the 

 other foot. No alteration of the shoeing, and no increase of 

 strength or flesh, will be of service unti the inflammation is re- 

 duced, and the sore, if any exists, is healed, and this can only be 

 done either by rest or by protecting the Icir with a boot. Tli'^ 

 35* 



