WINDGALL. 375 



menced, the indications are to relieve the tendons and ligaments by 

 proper shoeing. The foot is to be prepared for the shqe by shorten- 

 ing the toe as much as possible, leaving the heels high ; or if the foot 

 is prepared in the usual way the shoe should be thin in front, with 

 thick heels or high calks. For the hind feet a long-heeled shoe with 

 calks seems to do best. Of course, when possible, the causes of knuck- 

 ling are to be removed; but since this can not always be done, the 

 time may come when the patient can no longer perform any service, 

 particularly in those cases where both fore legs are affected, .and it 

 becomes necessary either to destroy the animal or secure relief by 

 surgical interference. In such cases the tendons between the fetlock 

 and knee may be divided for the purpose of securing temporary relief. 

 Firing and blistering the parts responsible for the knuckling may, in 

 some instances, effect a cure; but a consideration of these measures 

 properly belongs to the treatment of the diseases in which knuckling 

 simply appears as a sequel. 



WINDGALL. 



Joints and tendons are furnished with sacs containing a lubricating 

 fluid called synovia. When these sacs are overdistended by reason 

 of an excessive secretion of synovia, they are called windgalls. They 

 form a soft, puffy tumor about the size of a hickory nut, and are 

 most often found in the fore leg, at the upper part of the fetlock joint, 

 between the tendon and the shin bone. When they develop in the 

 hind leg it is not unusual to see them reach the size of a walnut. 

 Occasionally they appear in front of the fetlock on the border of the 

 tendon. The majority of horses are not subject to them after colt- 

 hood has passed. (See also page 330.) 



Causes. — Windgalls are often seen in young, overgrown horses, 

 where the body seems to have outgrown the ability of the joints to 

 sustain the weight. In cart and other horses used to hard work, in 

 trotters with excessive knee action, in hurdle racers and hunters, and 

 in most cow ponies there is a predisposition to windgalls. Street-car 

 horses and others used to start heavy loads on slippery streets are the 

 ones most apt to develop windgalls in the hind legs. 



Symptoms. — The tumor is more or less firm and tense when the foot 

 is on the ground, but is soft and compressible when the foot is off the 

 ground. In old horses windgalls generally develop slowly and cause 

 no inconvenience. If they are caused by excessive tension of the joint 

 the tumor develops rapidly, is tense, hot, and painful, and the animal 

 is exceedingly lame. The patient stands with the joint flexed, and 

 walks with short steps, the toe only being placed on the ground. 

 When the tumor is large and situated upon the inside of the leg it 

 may be injured by interfering, causing stumbling and inflammation 

 of the sac. Eest' generally causes the tumor to diminish in size, only 

 to fill up again after renewed labor. In old cases the tumors are 

 Digitized by Microsoft® 



