374 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



Treatment. — When the trouble is due to deformity or faulty con- 

 formation, it may not be possible to overcome the defect. 



In such cases, and as well in those due to exhaustion or fatigue, the 

 fetlock, or ankle, boot must be used. In many instances interfering 

 may be prevented by proper shoeing. The outside heel and quarter 

 of the foot on the injured leg should be lowered sufficiently to change 

 the relative position of the fetlock joint, by bringing it farther away 

 from the center plane of the 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 may 

 set well under the hoof at the point responsible for the injury. The 

 shoe should be reset every three or f oiir 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-continued bruising, a Spanish-fly blister over the parts, repeated 

 in two or three weeks if necessary, will aid in reducing the leg to its 

 natural condition. 



KNUCKLING, OR COCKED ANKLES. 



Knuckling is a partial dislocation 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 resting 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 flexed ; and time is required, 

 after birth, for the ligaments, tendons, and muscles to adapt them- 

 selves 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 heavy work, particu- 

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

 exciting causes of knuckling. It is also commonly seen as an accom- 

 paniment to that faulty conformation called clubfoot, in which the 

 toe of the wall is pei'pendicular and short, and the heels high — a 

 condition most often seen in the mule, especially in the. hind feet. 



Lastly, knuckling is produced by disease of the suspensory liga- 

 ment or of the flexor tendons, whereby they are shortened, and by 

 disease of the fetlock joints. (See page 347.) 



Treatment. — In young foals no treatment is necessary, unless there 

 is some deformity present, since the legs straighten up witliout inter- 

 ference in the course of a few weeks. When knuckling has com- 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



