DISEASES OF THE FETLOCK, ANKLE, AND FOOT. 401 



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

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

 disease of the fetlock joints. (See p. 372.) 



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

 is some deformity present, since the legs straighten up without 

 interference in the covirse of a few weeks. When knuckling has com- 

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

 proper shoeing. The foot is to be prepared for the shoe 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 ; since this can not always be done, however, 

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

 service, particularly in those cases in which both fore legs are 

 affected, and it becomes necessary either to destroy the animal or 

 obtain relief by surgical interference. In such cases the tendons be- 

 tween the fetlock and knee may be divided for the purpose of obtain- 

 ing temporary relief. Firing and blistering the parts i-esponsible for 

 the Itnuckling may, in some instances, effect a cure; but a considera- 

 tion of these measures belongs properly to the treatment of the 

 disease in which knuckling appears simply as a sequel. 



WINDGALL. 



Joints and tendons are furnished with sacs containing a lubricating 

 flnid 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 p. 365,) 



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

 in which 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 liable to develop windgalls in the hind legs. 



Sym/ptoms. — 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 

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