DISEASES OF THE BONES AND JOINTS 



289 



he stands for a time and cools off and is then driven again, the 

 lameness becomes much aggravated. An exostosis makes its 

 appearance at the seat of the inflam- 

 mation. No indication of the severity 

 of the spavin can be had from the 

 size of the enlargement which may- 

 be out of all proportion to the lame- 

 ness. The toe of the shoe of a 

 spavined horse is worn away to an 

 appreciable extent. When standing 

 he frequently rests the heels of the 

 diseased leg on the wall of the oppo- 

 site foot for relief . 



To determine the presence and 

 severity of a spavin the animal may 

 be subjected to the spavin test. This 

 is made by flexing the joint for at 

 least a minute by grasping the lower 

 end of the cannon with the hand and 

 closing as completely as possible the 

 angle formed by the leg and cannon 

 bones. Immediately the animal is 

 made to trot briskly away from the 

 examiner. If a spavin is forming, the 

 horse will show the peculiar lameness 

 described above. 



Treatment. — In treating a bone 

 spavin the object aimed at is to 

 hasten nature's effort toward anky- 

 losis or union of the diseased bones. 

 This requires transforming the exist- 

 ing chronic inflammation into the 

 acute form. To accomplish this end 

 more blood must be brought to the 

 part. The application of blisters or 

 the firing-iron are the means used to 

 bring it about. Point firing, or the 

 introduction of a red-hot pointed 

 firing-iron through the skin into the bone tissue, is resorted to if 

 the blister fails. Rest is an important adjunct to the treatment 

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Fig. 73 . — The left metatarsal 

 and lower row of tarsal bones 

 showing a massive bone spavin. 

 Complete ankylosis has oc- 

 curred between all the bones. 



