SFBAIN OF THE BACK TENDONS, 



55l 



pastern. If the coffin joint happens, to be extended in a, way the animal was not 

 prepared for, both these membranes are ruptured. The consequence is an effusion 

 of blood between the two tendons, where- 

 by all motion between them would be ef- 

 fectually prevented, were the animal left 

 to obey his own instinctive feelings. 



In most of the so-called cases of 

 clap, or sprain of the back tendons, 

 the ligament, and not the tendons, 

 is the seat of the injury. 



, Causes. — Whatever tends to 

 throw unusual stress upon these 

 parts may produce it, such as gal- 

 loping on uneven ground, allowing 

 the hoofs to grow too long, thereby 

 increasing the leverage on the ten- 

 don ; sometimes it occurs in leap- 

 ing, often whilejumping around in 



p la y- 



Symptoms. ,^The animal is very 

 lame, the part is hot, swollen, and 

 tender ; the limb is held forward, 

 so as to relax the part ; in some 

 cases he can hardly touch the 

 ground. On taking up the foot 

 and pinching with the fingers, he 

 evinces the pain he feels. If the 

 outer tendon (perforatus) is in- 

 jured, we have a bulging out be- 

 hind, interrupting Jthe evenness of 

 the line which characterizes the 

 tendons. If the perforans, it is felt 



A. the outside nerve, or that part of It 

 where the branch H communicatesj B. the sub- 

 pensory ligament; C. the great, ligament of the 

 back sinew; D. the two back sinews, or flexor 

 tendons; E. E. the exterior tendon; F. the can" 



' non, or shank bone; G. the splint bone; H. the 

 back sinews and their great suspensory ligament, 

 apparently joined together; this, however, is 

 not the case; it Incorporates only with the per- 

 forans tendon, marked figure 2, and so inti- 

 mately thatthey form one and the same substance 

 at the part marked by the letter i; the perforatus, marked figure 3, forms a sheath for the 



' perforans as already described In the article on " Strains; " 5, the fetlock-jolnt 



Flexor Tendon, etc. 



