Treatment of Contracted 

 Tendons in Foals* 



By James Smellie, M. D. C, Eureka, Illinois 



The title of this paper should really be "Treat- 

 ment of Contracted Tendons and Ligaments in 

 Young Colts," because in the majority of cases 

 the ligaments are just as much at fault as are the 

 tendons. The contraction of one or both of these 

 structures is a condition that the country prac- 

 titioner meets very often, and in most cases, it is 

 quite serious. 



Every year we see a number of colts born with 

 such marked contraction of the flexor tendons and 

 posterior ligaments of the forelegs that the ani- 

 mal knuckles over on the fetlock joint, and is un- 

 able to extend the phalanges. The condition, if 

 allowed to continue very long, causes an undue 



♦Reprinted from the Missouri Valley Vsterinary Bulletin, Feb., 191«. 



