400 DISEASES OF THE HOHSE. 



animal, after first painting the inside toe and quarter of the sus- 

 pected foot with a thin coating of chalk, charcoal, mud, or paint. 



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 inter- 

 fering 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 four 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 

 iong-contiiiued bruising, a Spanish-fly blister over the parts, re- 

 peated 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 moi-e nearly perpendicular, with 

 the lower end of the cannon bone resting behind the center line of 

 the large pastern, while the lower end of this bone rests behind the 

 center line of the coronet. While knuckling is not always an un- 

 soundness, 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 re- 

 quired after birth for the ligaments, tendons, and muscles to adapt 

 themselves to the function of sustaining the weight of the body. 



As they grow old, horses with erect pasterns are very prone to 

 laiuckle, especially in the hind legs. All kinds of heavy work, 

 particularly in hilly districts, and fast work on hard race tracks or 

 roads are exciting causes of knuckling. It is also commonly seen as 

 an accompaniment of that faulty conformation called clubfoot, in 

 which the toe of the wall is perpendicular and short, and the heels 

 high — a condition most often seen in the mule, especially in the 

 hind feet. 



