362 



nnder tlie lioof at the point responsible for the injury. The shoo 

 should be reset every three or four weeks. 



When the cause has been removed cold water bandages to the in- 

 jured parts will soon remove the soreness and swelling, especially in 

 recent cases. If, however, the fetlock has become calloused from long- 

 continued bruising, a Spanish fly blister over the parts, rei)eated in 

 two or three weeks' time if necessary, will aid in reducing the leg to its 

 natural condition. 



KNUCKLING OR COCKED ANKLES^. 



Knuckling is a partial dislocation of the fetlock joint, in which the 

 relative i)06ition of the pastern bone to the cannon and coronet bones 

 is changed, the pastern becoming more nearly perpendicular, with the 

 lower end of the cannon bone resting behind the center line of the 

 sufiraginis, while the lower end of this bone rests behind the center 

 line of the coronet. While knuckling is not always an unsoundness, it 

 nevertheless predisposes to stumbling and to fracture of the pastern. 



Causes. — Young foals are quite subject to this condition, but in the 

 great majority of cases it is only temporary. It is largely due to the 

 fact that, before birth, the legs were flexed; and time is required, after 

 birth, for the ligaments, tendons, and muscles to adapt themselves to 

 the function of sustaining the weight of the body. 



Horses with erect pasterns are very prone to knuckle as they grow 

 old, especially in the hind legs. All kinds of heavy work, particularly 

 in hilly districts, and fast work on hard race-tracks or roads are excit- 

 ing causes of knuckling. It is also commonly seen as an accompani- 

 ment to that faulty conformation called club-foot, in which the toe of 

 the wall is peri^endicular and short and the heels high, a condition 

 most often seen in the mule, especially the hind feet. 



Lastly, knuckling is i:)roduced by disease of the suspensory ligaincnt, 

 or of the flexor tendons, whereby they arc shortened, and by disease 

 of the fetlock joints. 



Treatment. — In young foals no treatment is necessary, unless there is 

 some deformity present, since the legs straighten up without inter- 

 ference in the course of a few weeks' time. When knuckling has com- 

 menced the indications are to relieve the tendons and ligaments by 

 proper shoeing. The foot is to be prepared for the shoe by shortening 

 the toe as much as possible, leaving the heels high; or if the foot is 

 IDrepared in tiie usual way the shoe should be thin in front, with thick 

 heels or high calks. For the hind feet a long-heeled shoe with calks 

 seems to do best. Of course, when j^ossible, the causes of knuckling 

 are to be removed, but since this can not always be done, the time may 

 come when the patient can no longer perform any service, particularly 

 in those cases where both forelegs are affected, and it becomes neces- 

 sary either to destroy the animal or secure relief by surgical inter- 

 ference. In such cases the tendons, between the fetlock and knee, may 



