Speedy-Cut.—The inside of one or both feet usually strikes the fetlock joint of the opposite foot in passing it; but sometimes the cannon bone is struck just below the knee; the bruise thus caused is called “Speedy-cut.” It occurs during fast action, generally in horses with badly shaped legs. It is more dangerous than common cutting, because the pain is more severe and the shock to the system greater, so much so that sometimes the horse falls as if he were shot. Examination may discover a small bare place, partially concealed by adjacent hair, or a contusion, or an abrasion of the skin, or a scab on the inside of the cannon bone. In bad cases the periosteum may be swollen and the bone itself enlarged.
Treatment.—This should be the same as for common cutting; but in all probability the only effectual remedy will be the construction of a speedy-cut boot, with a pad on the inside of the leg reaching from the knee to the fetlock, kept in position by buckles, and resting on the fetlock joint.
Treads and Over-Reaches.—These are names given to a wound between hair and hoof, inflicted either on the fore coronary substance by the shoe of the hind foot, or on the hind leg by another horse treading on it. Cart horses may inflict the injury on themselves with the calk of the shoe. These wounds are sometimes difficult to heal in consequence of the difference in organization of the parts injured, the exterior being highly vascular, but the interior cartilaginous.
Treatment.—Every portion of detached horn, hair or skin must be removed and the wound cleansed and dressed with the Veterinary Oil placed on soft tow and bound up with broad tape. On the third and every subsequent day the dressing may be removed, but warm applications and poultices must be avoided. In cases of neglect or ill-treatment the suppurative process may have become established, and the warm applications may be necessary. If neglected the disease may end in Quittor.
In all cases of Injuries or Bruises, give A.A., and B.B. in alternation, two doses of each per day.
Broken Knee
This is a very vague term and may imply simply to a bruise, an abrasion of the skin, or a division of the tendons or of the capsule of the joints.
Causes.—Mechanical, such as falling or striking the knee against some hard and sharp substance.
Symptoms.—There may be a simple bruise, without perforation of the skin, which, though not strictly speaking a broken knee, may be conveniently regarded as such; the knee is hot, swollen and painful, and sometimes hair is removed, or there may be abrasion of the skin, or it may be cut through, torn and jagged, and the underlying tissues more or less injured, the sheath of the tendon being exposed. If no glairy fluid issue at the time the joint is not open, and there is no cause for uneasiness about anything except the blemish which may remain, but which will generally be very slight if suitable treatment be adopted. A more serious form of Broken Knee is where it is bruised, cut or lacerated, and opened down to the joint, accompanied by the escape of clear synovial fluid, “joint oil,” like the white of an egg;
Treatment.—The horse’s head must be racked up for a few days or placed in cradles, to prevent his biting the wound. In broken knees where the skin and subtextures are very much contused, and where such a quantity of sand has become imbedded that suppuration is a necessary consequence, it is well to put on a turnip or carrot poultice (but never bran, for it acts as an irritant). A leg of a woolen stocking should be drawn up over the knee and fastened around the leg at the lower part with a piece of tape, then, from above, the space in front of the knee can be filled with mashed turnip; the upper part of the stocking can then be fastened as the lower. The poultice may be repeated morning and evening for about three days, when suppuration will most probably be established, and no further treatment be necessary unless the granulations become too luxuriant, when the Veterinary Oil may be applied, but not too freely or too often. In a few days the scab will fall off, and if cicatrisation has not taken place, the process may be hastened by washing the part three times a day with tepid water, or better, with the Humphreys’ Marvel Witch Hazel. Give B.B.