PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 215 



the halter. At the word, the assistant at the head starts 

 the horse backwards and the other two pull firmly at the 

 ropes. (Fig. 23.) The horse having but one foreleg to stand 

 upon falls first upon the shoulder, then the hind quarters. 



When down, the assistant at the head places one knee on 

 the poll and with the hands to the halter lifts the nose from 

 the floor. In this position the head is easily kept under con- 

 trol, and protected from injury. The hoodwink previously 

 adjusted may also be used to prevent contusions of the orbit 

 and to protect the eyes against foreign bodies. 



The tying of the legs is the most important part of the 

 n^ethod, as it is here the patient is protected against serious 

 injury. The rope on the uppermost side is hitched over, the 

 hind feet, passed around the loins and then hitched twice 

 to the same foot after drawing the leg tightly into extreme 

 flexion. This requires two assistants, one at the dorsal side 

 to draw the leg to the flexed position and one on the ven- 

 tral side to take up the slack. The front leg is then se- 

 cured in the flexed position with the sash cord, looped first 

 around the pastern and then passed around the two ropes 

 that pass from the collar to the hind foot. The horse is then 

 rolled over and the other side tied in the same fashion. 



The seat of operation must then be exposed and securely 

 immobiHzed according to its location. For an operation 

 upon a fore foot or leg, a sash cord is looped around the 

 metacarpus and then anchored to the hind hopple and a 

 second one is looped around the foot and given into the 

 hands of an assistant or two. For a hind foot the hopple 

 and the hitches must be transferred to the tibial region. 

 For inguinal operations the ropes which now cross each 

 other over the region so as to obstruct free access to it, 

 must be transferred each to the opposite foot. Most all 

 parts of the body may be satisfactorily exposed by this 

 method, except the neck at the collar seat, the shoulders 



