CAPPED HOCK. 273 



very damaging to the horse, an intolerable nuisance 

 to the inhabitants of any houses which may be near. 

 Shackles may prevent it, but as a rule, if a horse 

 means kicking, he will manage it somehow or other, 

 and kick shackles and all. Being much troubled in 

 this way b\ r one of my own horses, my groom very 

 ingeniously contrived the following arrangement, 

 which answered so admirably that I will give the 

 reader the benefit of it : He fastened two buckets 

 of water every night to the pillar-rein of the stall, 

 just at such a height that when the horse kicked 

 the water splashed over him. He very soon gave 

 up the trick, and never kicked so long as the 

 buckets were there. 



Capped hock of any standing cannot be quite 

 got rid of. The best plan is frequent hand-rubbing. 

 A very mild solution of bichloride of mercury is, 

 I have been told, efficacious, but it must be very 

 mild, and should be applied with a cork, the same 

 way as the hair, i.e., with the hair, and not rubbed 

 against it. Pressure may also serve to reduce it, 

 but no very great results must be expected if the 

 cartilage has become much thickened. 



Capped elbow, which is a thickening of the cap 

 of the elbow, is also as troublesome, if not as 

 unsightly, as capped hock. I have seen horses 

 whose elbows have been so enlarged as to be of the 



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