Should it become necessary to examine the hind foot or interdigital space, it is useful at times to pass a loop of cord round the leg in the region of the tendo-Achillis, and to twist and tighten this loop by a short, stout stick passed through it; this is the leg twitch described in Dollar’s “Operative Technique,” p. 7.
For such examinations, however, the animal is usually placed in the trevis, or is secured to the side of a long waggon (Fig. 286).
To secure the limbs beneath the abdomen a strip of webbing or a rope is fastened round the pastern, passed between the fore limbs, then in front of the shoulder of the opposite side, over the withers and beneath the elbow of the same side, being secured with a slip-knot.
For castration in the standing position a hind and a fore limb may be fastened together, as shown in Fig. 287.
In examining the sole of the hind claws, the animal’s head may be secured to a tree, and the hind limb lifted by a strip of webbing or rope fixed to the body of a waggon (Fig. 288).
GENERAL CONTROL.
General control in the standing position can only be made really effective by using the trevis, in which both the head and the fore and hind limbs are secured.
Fig. 286.—Fixing a front limb. Examining a hind foot.
