This treatment should be continued; the animal being confined to the stall and made to move as little as possible, until the heat and swelling are diminished and the leg is almost sound. The part being quite cool, a blister should then be rubbed all over the joint; and with that this treatment, in the great majority of cases, is ended. On no account should any man allow his horse's hock to be fired for curb. This is a very general practice; but the author has never witnessed any good result therefrom. He has, however, seen much agony ensue upon the custom. The form of the marks perpetuated upon the skin of a living creature is shown herewith, and were plainly visible in the case of curb, which the writer dissected.
THE LINES MADE, FOR SOME IMAGINARY BENEFIT, WITH A HEATED IRON, UPON THE HOCK OF A HORSE HAVING CURB.
Pulling horses up on their haunches is asserted to be a frequent cause of curb; yet curb is not an accident commonly met with among those animals which drag London carriages. These creatures are being constantly thrown upon their haunches, it being, by ladies, considered "very pretty and very dashing" to make their servants tug at the reins, regardless of the living mouths on which these operate. Pulling suddenly up, however objectionable for other reasons, does not seem to induce curb, as London carriage horses are all but free from that affection. The disease is mainly caused by uneven ground wrenching the limb; by galloping at the topmost speed; by prancing when mounted, or by leaping when after the hounds. Perhaps more curbs are to be seen in a district on which several packs are kept, than in any other part of the country.
THE SUREST MANNER OF PRODUCING CURB.
OCCULT SPAVIN.
The horse is subject to many fearful maladies, but to none which is more terrible than ulceration between the bones composing the joints. Synovial membrane, cartilage, and bone are without sensation during health. The author hopes his reader is not conscious of a bone in his body; it is also wished that he may read with surprise, that the ends of bones are covered with cartilage, and that many are invested with synovial membrane. As has already been observed, these structures in health are not sensitive; but when disease starts up, be it only the slightest blush of inflammation, the acutest anguish is thereby occasioned.
Ulceration of the joints is, unfortunately, rather common among horses; the animal, while being ridden, usually drops suddenly lame. It has trodden on a rolling stone, or made a false step, or put its foot into some hole, and injured the bone. After a little time, continuance of the impaired gait causes the rider to dismount; nothing is to be found in the foot, yet the animal is taken to the stable decidedly lame. The foot is searched, the limb is examined, pressure, even of the hardest kind, is endured with provoking complacency. No heat or swelling can be discovered; but one thing is to be discerned, the lameness is most emphatic. After some time, a peculiarity in the trot may be remarked; the lame foot hardly touches the earth before it is snatched up again, and that very energetically. Then, closer observation notes that the leg, when flexed, is always carried in a direct line, as it is when displaying the symptoms of bony spavin. The hoof is never even partially turned outward. Still, neither of these traits is always displayed in so prominent a manner as to force attention; frequently, a conclusion is to be drawn only from negative testimony—as the duration of the lameness, the soundness of the foot, and the perfect condition of the tendons; these evidences, taken with the suddenness of the complaint, cause the practitioner to comprehend he has a case of occult spavin under treatment.