BROKEN KNEES. The part commonly termed the knee of the horse is the carpus or wrist of man, and from the peculiar conformation of a quadruped, is much exposed, and liable to serious injury. By broken knee is meant the abrasion or more serious injury of the joint by a fall; and even when the wounds are healed, the scar usually remains to indicate that the horse has once fallen, and is " broken-kneed." An animal is then regarded as unsafe, and seriously deteriorated in value.
Causes.—The fall is necessarily the immediate cause of the broken-knee; as to the cause of the fall, it is usually to be looked for elsewhere than in the horse himself. As a rule, the safety of a horse's action is very great, particularly about the age of from four to seven or eight years. Rarely does a horse at any age fall on his knees, unless his feet have suffered from improper shoeing; the animal then moves cautiously, and is very apt to " stumble." Undoubtedly, some horses of defective conformation and slug gish disposition are more likely to stumble and fall than a well made, high-actioned steed; nevertheless, the most perfect animal may gradually be rendered unsafe by improper shoeing. See SHOEING OF HORSES.
Symptoms.-1t is important, so soon as the injury is done, to determine the extent and depth of the wound. If it be merely a superficial wound, the case is a simple one; and unless the skin is much bruised, the hair will grow, and the animal not be permanently blemished. The sheath. however, through which the tendon over the joint passes, may be opened, and the tendon itself injured. The wound is then gaping, heals rather slowly, and sloughs have to be thrown off. Lastly, the joint itself may be opened, and this is indicated by a free discharge of the joint-oil or synovia, and by the bones being seen or felt on probing. The worst form of accident is that when the bones of the joint are fractured. The system suffers when the wounds are serious, and severe fever sets in.
may be the form of injury, the first injunction is to wash the wound thoroughly with cold water applied constantly for hours. The joint will swell, become hot and painful, and in some cases irritative fever occurs. Then the animal should be kept on low diet, and be purged with four, five, or six drachms of aloes, according to its size, etc. Should the wound be deep, much dirt remaining in the tis sues, a large linseed-meal poultice should be applied over the joint for a day or two, until free suppuration sets in. if this is retarded, and in all cases when the poultice does not appear necessary, cold fomentations may be continued, using either some infu sion of chamomile, or one part of tincture of arnica to twelve of water, or one part of Goulard's extract to a similar quantity of water. The severe symptoms speedily sub side, unless the bones are fractured or the joint otherwise seriously injured. Usually, the wound heals rapidly, the joint-oil ceases to flow; and in order to insure a contrac tion of the wound, mild astringent or caustic applications should be used, such as tincture of myrrh, sulphate of zinc lotion, or sulphate of copper in crystal rubbed over it. When the wound is thoroughly healed, the hair may not grow rapidly, even in parts where it should form; in this case its production may be accelerated by the use of a very mild cantharidine ointment, which should act as a mild irritant, but not as a blister. In sonic cases of severe broken knee, it is advisable to fix the limb so that the animal may not move the joint much. In veterinary jurisprudence, a broken knee is regarded as a blem ish, not as an unsoundness.