DISEASES OF THE FETLOCK, ANKLE, AND FOOT. 



By A. A. HoLCOMBB, D. V. S., 



yeterinary Inspector, Bureau of Animal In<liiHtry. 



ANATOMICAL REVIEW OF THE FOOT. 



In a description c4 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, so far as veterinary surgery is concerned, for the reason 

 that it 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 multiplied uses 

 to which the animal is put, and the constant reproduction of heredi- 

 tary defects and tendencies, has 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 shortlived in its use- 

 fulness. 



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

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

 kept soimd. To accomplish this end it is necessary not only to know 

 how to cure all diseases to which these organs are 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 p. 583.) 



The bones 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 os su£fraginis, the small 

 pastern or coronet, the small sesamoid or navicular bone, and the 

 coffin bone or os pedis. (Plate XXXIV, fig. 3.) 



The cannon bone 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 

 large pastern, with the base of the pyramid down. 



395 



