KNBB, FBTIvOCK, ANKLE, AND FOOT. 1 77 



plane of tlie body, thereby permitting the other foot to pass by without 

 striking. 



A very slight change is often sufficient to effect this result. At the 

 same time the offending foot should be so shod, that the shoe sets well 

 under the hoof at the point which causes the injury. The shoe should 

 be reset every three or four weeks. 



When the cause has been removed cold water bandages to the injured 

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

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

 ued bruising, a Spanish fly blister over the parts, repeated 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 disloca- 

 tion of the fetlock joint, in which the relative position 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 rest- 

 ing behind the center line of the suffraginis, 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 bent; 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 heavj' work, particularly 

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

 causes of knuckling. It is also seen as an accompaniment to that faulty 

 formation called club-foot, in which the toe of the wall is perpendicular 

 and short, and the heels high, a condition most often seen in the mule, 

 especially the hind feet. 



I,astl5% knuckling is caused by disease of the suspensory ligament, or 

 of the flexor tendons, whereby they are 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, relieve the tendons and ligaments by proper shoeing. Prepare 



