ar track, and the animal falls or struggles
violently. Direct blows and punctured wounds may also set up
inflammation of the joint.

_Symptoms._--The symptoms of sprain of the fetlock vary with the
severity of the injury. If slight, there may be no lameness, but simply
a little soreness, especially when the foot strikes on uneven ground and
the joint is twisted a little. In more severe cases the joint swells, is
hot and puffy, and the lameness may be so intense as to compel the
animal to hobble on three legs. While at rest the leg is flexed at the
joint affected, and the toe rests on the ground.

_Treatment._--If the injury is slight, cold-water bandages and a few
days' rest are sufficient to effect recovery. When there is an intense
lameness, swelling, etc., the leg should be placed under a constant
stream of cold water, as described in the treatment for quittor. When
the inflammation has subsided, a blister to the joint should be applied.

In some cases, especially in old horses long accustomed to fast work,
the ligaments of the joints are ruptured, in whole or in part, and the
lameness may last a long time. In these cases the joint should be kept
completely at rest; this condition is best obtained by the application
of plaster of Paris bandages, as in cases of fracture. As a rule,
patients take kindly to this bandage, and, while wearing it, may be
given the freedom of a roomy box or yard. If they are disposed to tear
it off, or if sufficient rest can not otherwise be obtained, the patient
must be kept in slings.

In the majority of instances the plaster bandage should remain on from
two to four weeks. If the lameness returns when the bandage is removed,
a new one should be put on. The swellings which always remains after the
other evidences of the disease have disappeared, may be largely
dissipated and the joint strengthened by the rise of the firing iron and
blisters.

A joint once injured by a severe sprain never entirely regains its
original strength, and is ever after particularly liable to a repetition
of the injury.

RUPTURE OF THE SUSPENSORY LIGAMENT.

Sprain with or without rupture of the suspensory ligament may happen in
either the fore or hind legs, and is occasionally seen in horses of all
classes and at all ages. Old animals, however, and especially hunters,
runners, and trotters, are the most subject to this injury, and with
them the seat of the trouble is nearly always in one or both the fore