CURB. 349 



secondary to other diseases, rest, with fortifying frictions, may some- 

 times aid in strengthening the joints; and the application of blisters 

 on the posterior part of the knee, from a short distance above to a 

 point a little below the joint, may be followed by some satisfactory 

 results; but with this trouble, as with knuckling fetlocks, the danger 

 of relapse must be kept in mind as a contingency always liable to 

 occur. 



CURB. 



This lesion is the bulging backward of the posterior part of the 

 hock, where in the normal state there should be a straight line, extend- 

 ing from the upper end of the point of the hock down to the fetlock. 



Cause. — The cause may be a sprain of the tendon which passes on 

 the posterior part of the hock, or of one of its sheaths, or of the strong 

 ligament situated on the posterior border of the os calcis. 



Hocks of a certain conformation seem to possess a greater liability 

 to curb than others. They are overbent, coarse, and thick in appear- 

 ance, or may be too narrow from front to back across the lower por- 

 tion. This condition may therefore result as a sequence to congeni- 

 tal malformation, as in the case of horses that are saber-legged. It 

 often occurs, also, as the result of violent efforts, of heavy pulling, of 

 high jumping, or of slipping; in a word, it may result from any of 

 the causes heretofore considered as instrumental in producing lacera- 

 tions of muscular, tendinous, or ligamentous structure. 



Symptoms. — A hock affected with curb will, at the outset, present 

 a swelling more or less diffuse on its posterior portion, with varying 

 degrees of heat and soreness, and these will be accompanied by lame- 

 ness of a perrnanent character. At a later period, however, the swell- 

 ing will become better defined, the deformity more characteristic, the 

 prominent curved line readily detected, and the thickness of the infil- 

 trated tissue easily determined by the fingers. At this time, also, 

 there may be a condition of lameness, varying in degree, while at 

 others, again, the irregularity of action at the hock will be so slight 

 as to escape detection, the animal betraying no appearance of its 

 existence. 



A curb constitutes, by a strict construction of the term, an " un- 

 soundness," since the hock thus affected is less able to endure severe 

 labor, and is more liable to give way with the slightest effort. And 

 yet the prognosis of a curb can not be considered to be serious, since it 

 generally yields to treatment, or at least the lameness it may occasion 

 is generally easily relieved, though the loss of contour caused by the 

 bulging will always constitute a blemish. 



Treatment. — On the first appearance of a curb, when it exhibits 

 the signs of an acute inflammation, the first indication is to subdue 

 this by the use of cold applications as intermittent or constant irriga- 

 tion or an ice poultice ; but when these have exhausted their effect 

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