Bog Spavin.

Bog Spavin. This singular name has been applied to a lesion of the hock-joint of the horse, consisting in distension of the capsule inclosing the joint. Usually arising suddenly from a sprain in action, it most commonly affects young horses with defective hocks, and is associated with other indications of weakness in the injured joint. As the immediate result of a violent sprain, the hock becomes swollen, hot, and tender, and there is considerable lameness. The acute symptoms subside readily, but a circumscribed swelling remains towards the front, inner, and lower part of the joint. The swelling is firm and tense, and partly disappears during exercise, to again reappear after rest. At every recurring strain, lameness supervenes, but commonly passes off within a short time. If the bog spavin has accidentally occurred in a young horse with good hocks, it may after disappearance of the acute symptoms never again be attended with inconvenience. The treatment of bog spavin consists in the application of a high-heeled shoe, without a toe-piece, to the foot; the administration of a purge, soft diet, and rest, and the application of fomentations and mild stimulations to the part, succeeded after a few days by blisters, and perhaps, in cases of persistent lameness, both firing and blistering. We can, however, only obtain a reduction in the inflammatory symptoms and disappearance of the lameness, but hardly ever a disappearance of the swelling. See SPAVIN.