DISEASES OF THE FETLOCK, ANKLE, AND FOOT. 



By A. A. HoLCOMBE, D. V. S., 

 Inspector, Bureau of Animal Industry. 



[Revised in 1903 by the author.] 



ANATOMICAL REVIEW OP THE FOOT. 



In a description of the foot of the horse it is customary to include 

 only the hoof and its, contents, yet, from a zoological standpoint, the 

 foot includes all the leg from the knee and the hock down. 



The foot of the horse is undoubtedly the most important part of 

 the animal, in so far as veterinary surgery is concerned, for the reason 

 that this member is subject to so many injuries and diseases, which, 

 in part or in whole, render the patient unfit for the labor demanded 

 of him. The old aphorism, " no foot no horse," is as true to-day as 

 when first expressed ; in fact, domestication, coupled with the multi- 

 plied uses to which the animal is put, and the constant reproduction 

 of hereditary defects and tendencies, have largely transformed the 

 ancient " companion of the wind " into a very common piece of 

 machinery which is often out of repair, and, at best, is but short- 

 lived in its usefulness. 



Since the value of the horse depends largely, or even entirely, upon 

 his ability to labor, it is essential that his organs of locomotion should 

 be kept sound ; and to accomplish this end it is necessary not only to 

 know how to cure all diseases to which these organs kre liable, but, 

 better still, how to prevent them. 



An important prerequisite to the detection and cure of disease is a 

 knowledge of the construction and function of the parts which may 

 be involved in the diseased process; hence, first of all, the anatomical 

 structures must be understood. (See also page 559.) 



The hones of the fetlock and foot constitute the skeleton on which 

 the other structures are built, and comprise the lower end of the can- 

 non bone (the metacarpus in the fore leg, the metatarsus in the hind 

 leg) , the two sesamoids, the large pastern or suffraginis, the small pas- 

 tern or coronet, the small sesamoid or navicular bone, and the coffin 

 bone or os pedis. (Plate XXXII, fig. 3.) 



The cannon tone extends from the knee or hock to the fetlock, is 

 cylindrical in shape, and stands nearly or quite perpendicular. 



The sesamoids occur in pairs, are small, shaped like a three-faced 

 pyramid, and are set behind the fetlock joint, at the upper end of the 

 suffraginis, with the base of the pyramid down. 



H. Doc. 795, 50-2 24 369 



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