11 6 
MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY. 
the splent will begin to lessen, and eventually disajpeai 
altogether. In fact most splents disappear by absorption 
when the horse begins to get old. 
SPEEDY CUT. 
This is an injury inflicted on the inside of the leg, just 
below the knee-joint, and extending to the head of the 
inner splent-bone. Horses of high action are liable to this 
injury, by severely striking this part with the edge of the 
shoe when they are trotting at a speedy rate. This, in 
some instances, occasions a bony enlargement, and in others 
considerable tenderness and great heat in the adjacent 
parts. Sometimes the pain inflicted is so great that the 
horse will suddenly drop as if life were extinct. 
Remedies. —The only thing required is to prevent the 
shoe from extending beyond the hoof; and the shoe should 
have only one nail on the inside of the foot, and that 
placed near the toe. Let the shoe also be of equal thick¬ 
ness at the heel and toe, and formed so that the foot may 
bear equally on both sides. 
KNEE-TIED. 
In some instances, when the trapezium or hinder bone 
of the knee is not sufficiently prominent, the ligamentous 
ring by which the tendons are bound together, will confine 
the flexor tendons of the foot so tightly that the leg will be 
very deficient in depth under the knee. This is known by 
the phrase, that the horse is “ tied below the knee.” This 
defect has always been found to limit the speed of the 
animal, as well as its endurance. If such a horse is ridden 
either fast or far, he is almost certain of being seized with a 
sprain of the back sinews. This is caused by the pressure 
oi the ring producing such a degree of friction as will 
