164 MANUAL OF FARM ANIMALS 



Lameness due to capped-elbows or shoe-boils 



Capped joints and shoe-boils first appear as a soft, flabby 

 bag containing a little watery fluid. 



Capped-elbows are caused by the irritation due to the horse 

 lying on the shoe when the foot is bent back under the body. 



The treatment of capped-elbows is to devise a means for its 

 prevention. This is often difficult. The horse should be well 

 bedded. If the heels of the shoe protrude, they should be 

 shortened. A good method of preventing a horse from lying 

 on the heel of the shoe is to fasten a piece of wood, say two by 

 six inches, across the stall about one foot back of where the 

 horse usually stands. This prevents the animal from doubling 

 his fore feet back under the body when lying down. 



Capped-knee is an enlargement on the front of the knee and 

 is somewhat similar to a capped-elbow. Capped-knees rriay 

 prove a great source of annoyance because of the unsightly 

 blemish they constitute. 



While there may be many causes of capped-knees, they are 

 most common among horses addicted to the habit of pawing 

 while in the stable and striking the front of the stalls with their 

 knees, and among naturally weak-kneed animals which are sub- 

 ject to falling and thus bruising their knees on the, ground. 



The treatment is first of all to remove the cause. This, of 

 course, cannot be accomplished among animals with weak 

 knees, and this' class is difficult to treat. The enlargements can 

 be reduced in size by hot baths and by rubbing with liniment. 

 A warm poultice of oil-meal or ground flaxseed enveloping the 

 entire joint and held in place by bandages is often followed by 

 an absorption of the enlargement. 



Capped-hock is an enlargement of the point of the hock and is 

 somewhat similar to capped elbows and knees. It is commonly 

 caused either by the horse lying on the hock or by irritation due 

 to the. repeated hitting of the hock against a whifHe-tree or 



