404 DISEASES OF THE HOKBE. 



found above the fetlock and in front of the flexor tendons. The 

 patient stands or walks upon the toe as much as possible, keeping tlie 

 fetlock joint flexed so as to relieve the ligament of tension. 



When both branches are torn from their attachments to the sesa- 

 moids, or both are torn across, the lameness comes on suddenly and 

 is most intense ; the fetlock descends, the toe turns up, and, as the 

 animal attempts to walk, the leg has the appearance of being broken 

 off at the fetloek. These symptoms, followed by heat, pain, and. 

 swelling of the parts at the point of injury, will enable anyone to 

 make a diagnosis. 



Treatment. — Sprain of the suspensory ligament, no matter how 

 mild it may be, should always be treated by enforced rest of at least a 

 month, and the application of cold douches and cold-water bandages, 

 firmly applied until the fever has subsided, when a cantharides blister 

 should be put on and repeated in two or three weeks if necessary. 

 When rupture has taken place the patient should be put into slings 

 and a consta<nt stream of cold water allowed to trickle over the seat 

 of injury until the fever is reduced. In the course of a week or ten 

 days a plaster of Paris splint, such as is used in fractures, is to be 

 applied and left on for a month or six weeks. When this is taken off, 

 blisters -may be used to remove the remaining soreness ; but it is use- 

 less to expect a, removal of all the thickening, for, in the process of 

 repair, new tissue has been formed which will always remain. 



In old cases of sprain the firing iron may often be used with good 

 results. As a rule, severe injuries to the suspensory ligament inca- 

 pacitate the subject for anything but slow, light work. 



OVERREACH. 



When the shoe of the hind foot strikes and injures the heel or quar- 

 ter of the forefoot the horse is said to Overreach. It rarely happens 

 except when the animal is going fast; hence is most common in trot- 

 ting and running horses. In trotters the accident generally happens 

 when the animal breaks from a trot to a run. The outside heels and 

 quarters are most liable to the injury. 



/Symptoms. — The coronet at the heel or quarter is bruised or cut, 

 the injury in some instances involving the horn as well. When the 

 hind foot strikes well back on the heel of the fore foot — an accident 

 known among horsemen as " grabbing " — the shoe may be torn from 

 the forefoot or the animal may fall to its knees. Horses accustomed 

 to overreaching are often " bad breakers," for the reason that the pain 

 of the injury so excites them that they can not readily be brought back 

 to the trotting gait. 



Treatment. — If the injury is but a slight bruise, cold-water band- 

 ages applied for a few days will remove all the soreness. If the parts 

 are deeply cut, more or less suppuration will follow, and, as a rule, it 



