399 



tiOQ witli contracted beels, ringbones, navicular diseases, punctured 

 wounds of the foot, quarter crack, and occasionally as a sequel to 

 founder. 



Symptoms.— In the earlier stages of the disease, if inflammation is 

 present, the only evidence of the trouble to be detected is a little fever 

 over the seat of the affected cartilage and a slight lameness. In the 

 lameness of sidebones the toe of the foot first strikes the ground and 

 the step is shorter than natural. The subject comes out of the stable 

 stiff and sore, but the gait is more free after exercise. 



Since the deposit of the bony matter often begins in that part of the 

 cartilage where it is attached to the cofan bone, the diseased process may 

 exist for some time before the bony growth can be seen or felt. Later 

 on, however, the cartilage can be felt to have lost its soft elastic char- 

 acter, and by standing in front of the animal a prominence of the coron- 

 ary region at the quarters can be seen. Occasionally these bones be- 

 come so large as to bulge the hoof outward, and by pressing on the joint 

 they so interfere with locomotion that the animal becomes entirely 



useless. 



Treatment— So soon as the disease can be diagnosed active treat- 

 ment should be adopted. Cold water bandages are to be used for a few 

 days to relieve the fever and soreness. 



The improvement consequent on the use of these simple measures 

 often leads to the belief that the disease has recovered ; but with a return 

 to work the lameness, fever, etc., reappears. For this reason the use of 

 blisters, or better still the firing iron, should follow on the discontinu- 

 ance of the cold bandages. 



But in many instances no treatment will arrest the growth of these 

 bony tumors, and as a palliative measure neurotomy must be resorted 

 to. Generally this operation will so relieve the pain of locomotion 

 that the patient may bo used for slow work; but in animals used for 

 faster driving or for saddle purposes the operation is practically useless. 

 Some years ago 1 unnerved a number of cavalry horses at Fort Leaven- 

 worth that were suffering from sidebones, and the records show that in 

 less than seven mouths' time all were more lame than ever. Since a 

 predisposition to develop sidebones may be inherited, animals suffer- 

 ing from this disease should not be used for breeding purposes unless 

 the trouble is known to have originated from an accident. 



RINGBONE. 



A ringbone is the growth of a bony tumor on the ankle. This tumor 

 is in fact not the disease, but simply the result effected by an inflam- 

 matory action set up in the periosteum and bone tissue proper of the 

 large and small pastern bones. (Plate xxxn, Fig. 1.) 



Causes. — Injuries, such as blows, sprains, overwork in young unde- 

 veloped animals, fast work on h^ird roads, jumping, etc., are among the 

 principal exciting causes of riugboues. Horses most disposed to this 



