CHAPTER V 



GENERAL REMARKS ON OPERATIONS ON THE 

 FOOT 



A. METHODS OF RESTRAINT. 



Many of the simple operations on the foot, such as the 

 probing of a sinus, the paring out of corns, or the search- 

 ing of pricks, may most suitably be performed with the 

 animal's leg held by the operator as a smith holds it for 

 shoeing. According to the temperament of the animal, 

 even the operation for the removal of a portion of the sole, 

 or the injection of sinuses with caustics, may be carried 

 out with the animal simply twitched. 



When the operation is still a simple one, casting incon- 

 venient or impossible, and the animal restive, the twitch 

 must be supplemented by some other method. The most 

 simple and one of the most effective is the blind, cap, 

 or bluff (Fig. 38). With it the most vicious animal or the 

 most nervous is in many instances either cowed into sub- 

 mission or soothed into quietness. 



At the same time, more forcible means than the opera- 

 tor's own strength must be taken to hold the animal's foot 

 from the ground. If the foot is a fore-foot, and the point 

 desired to be operated on is to the outside, the pastern 

 should be firmly lashed to the forearm by means of a thin, 

 short cord, or a leather strap and buckle. Much may then 

 be done in the way of paring and probing that would 

 otherwise be impossible. 



If the foot is a hind one, one of the many methods of 

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