Hock

“ The characteristic lameness of bone spavin, as it affects the motion of the hock joint, presents two aspects. In one class of cases it is most pronounced when the horse is cool, in the other when he is at work. The first is characterized by the fact that when the animal travels the toe first touches the ground, and the heel descends more slowly, the motion of flexion at the hock taking place stiffly, and accompanied with a dropping of the hip on the opposite side. ”

“ The hock is an important part of a horse, as any unhealthy or diseased condition of it will prevent him from resting on his haunches, and will thereby interfere with his free action in the canter and gallop. ”

“ The swelling, however, does not always subside. Enlargement, spread over the whole of the hock-joint, remains.
A horse with an enlarged hock must always be regarded with suspicion. In truth, he is unsound. The parts, altered in structure, must be to a certain degree weakened. The animal may discharge his usual work during a long period, without return of lameness; but if one of those emergencies should occur when all his energies require to be exerted, the disorganized and weakened part will fail. ”

“ Strain of the hock joint is commonest in young oxen which are being trained to work. Their hind quarters are necessarily more or less free, and the animals are apt to make side movements to avoid the goad, thus exposing the hock to irregular strain. ”

“ While the left hand presses the animal’s weight over towards the right side, the right hand loosens the foot and carries it forward and outward from the body so that the limb is bent at the hock. The holder then turns his body towards the right, brings his left leg against the anterior surface of the fetlock-joint, and carries the foot backward, at which time his left arm passes over the horse’s croup and above and to the inner side of the hock. ”

“ The hock is said to be curbed when the normal appearance, viewed from the side, is that of bulging posteriorly at any point between the summit of the calcaneum and the upper third of the metatarsus. Among some horsemen a hock is said to be "curby" whenever there exists an enlargement of any kind on the posterior face of the tarsus whether it be due to sprain, exostosis or proliferation of tissue as a result of contusion. ”

“ Extension of the hock in upward luxation of the patella, permits of flexion of the phalanges. In upward luxation, then, the leg is extended as if too long, but the phalanges may be in a state of moderate flexion. If the foot rests on the ground when the extremity is not flexed, it is almost impossible for the subject to step backward. Because of immobilization of the stifle and hock joints in upward luxation, the subject can walk only by hopping on the sound leg and then the extremity is flexed, allowing the anterior portion of the fetlock to drag on the ground. ”

“ The loins strong, square and wide, with deep, not flat, back-ribs. The hindquarters, very strong and muscular, with wide appearance from behind, long as well as large. Straight hocks, rather out than in, with strong, short bone from hock to heel. The stern should be gaily carried, should end in a fine point, little feathered, but not actually smooth, strong at root, gradually tapering to tips. Black, white and hound-tan, is perhaps the best colour. When the black is very prominent, and the tanned markings slight, the hounds are said to be "black and white." ”

“ Having killed your horse, you make an incision with a sharp knife round the hide above the hock, say at the commencement of the lower thigh, and another a couple of inches below the curb-place, and then proceed to draw the hide off the legs. Each leg will thus supply a comfortable Wellington, in which the point of the hock has become the heel. Of course, before fit for wear, the hide must be well softened by hand—a task which requires no little patience; for if not thoroughly done, the boots after a time will become quite hard and useless. ”

“ SYMPTOMS: Sometimes there is lameness when the Thoroughpin is first
noticed, but it will gradually disappear as soon as the inflammation
ceases. There will be a puffy, soft enlargement which occurs at the
upper and back part of the hock, beneath the great tendons. Generally
both sides are enlarged and puffy, but occasionally it happens that one
side is only involved. Thoroughpin is also a forerunner of Bog Spavin as
they generally are connected, as you are aware that the hock contains
joint oil as all other joints do, retained in place by a thin, white
fibrous membrane. ”

“ During the day, Captain Hock in skirmishing around the woods came across four or five shoats and an old sow feeding on the nuts and persimmons, and tried by shelling corn to coax them near enough to knock one over to cook for rations; but they were so wild he could not get near enough to capture one. He worked a long time to gain their confidence ”

“ The hips should be long and wide, with the stifle and thigh strong, long and proportionately developed, and the hind quarters well let down. The hock should have plenty of bone, and be strongly affixed to the leg, and show no signs of curb; the bones below the hock should be flat, and free from adhesions; the ligaments and tendons well developed, and standing out from the bone; the joints well formed and wide, yet without undue enlargement ”

“ Hocke (1.) , ‘shock (of corn) , cock (of hay) ,’ first occurs in ModHG., perhaps from LG.; yet UpG. (Suab. and Tyrol.) hock, m., ‘cock.’ Perhaps allied to hoch and Haufe (root kuk) ; Lith. kúgis, ‘cock,’ points, however, to a different root. In West Teut. a cognate term with a prefix s appears — MidHG. schocke, schoche, ‘cock,’ E. shock, and the equiv. MidE. schokke. ”

“ The maxim that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" fits the present case very neatly. A horse whose hocks have a somewhat puffy look and whose skin on the front of the hock is loose and flabby, justly subjects himself to a suspicion of addictedness to this bad habit, but a little watching will soon establish the truth. ”

“ Joints in which movement is restricted within narrow limits, such as the hock or fetlock, are most liable to such injuries, which also occur in very freely movable articulations like the shoulder and stifle. ”

“ The feet should be as perfect as those of the speed horse. In both types the knee should be thick, deep, and broad and the hocks wide. The narrow hock is not so well able to stand heavy strain, consequently curb diseases readily follow [41] where the conformation shows narrow hocks. Another difference between the two types is found in the muscles. The speed type throughout has long, thin, narrow muscles—muscles that stretch a long way and contract quickly. ”

“ A strong assistant grasps one of the hind limbs by means of a running loop, fixed, for example, above the right hock. He rapidly slides his left knee towards the front of the left side of the chest, passes his left hand over the withers, and by the combined use of his knees and arms throws the animal on its left side, controlling as far as possible the struggles of the right front and hind limbs, which he grasps with his hands. ”

“ The heel of the horse is the part commonly known as the hock; the hinder cannon bone answers to the middle metatarsal bone of the human foot, the pastern, coronary, and coffin bones, to the middle-toe bones; the hind hoof to the nail, as in the fore foot. And, as in the fore foot, there are merely two splints to represent the second and fourth toes. Sometimes a rudiment of a fifth toe appears to be traceable. ”

“ Where either the season of the year prevents, or an opportunity to turn out cannot be obtained, the only alternative, hot fomentations, {341} and stimulative embrocations, must be adopted. In strains of the hip, the horse in general draws his leg after him with a painful reluctance; and if impelled to a trot, is observed to drop upon his heel. If the injury is in the stifle, by treading on the toe, his motion is a kind of hop with the side affected. Strains of the hock are easily discovered, by a sort of limping twist in that joint at every motion of the leg. ”

“ There's herds o' sorrel cayuses."
"Shore there are, but there's only one Blakely. Oh, it was him all right."
"Whoever it was, I'm goin' to wander over onto the 88 range to-morrow, if Red or Hock'll lend me a Winchester."
"Take mine," said Hockling. "Red's throws off a little."
"She does," admitted Red Kane, "but my cartridges don't. ”

“ After the heat and irritation are reduced, careful hand-rubbing and the use of I.I., at night will do much to disperse the enlargement of the bursa.
Curb At the back of the hock, three or four inches below its point, an enlargement or swelling arises which has received the name of curb. It is a strain of the ring-like ligament which binds the tendons in their place, or of the sheath itself. It comes on in consequence of a violent strain of the flexor tendons, or from a blow, kick, or contusion upon the part. ”

“ The shank of the fore-leg, then, or the part between the knee and fetlock, corresponds to the hand, and the hoof and pastern to the fingers; while the shank of the hind-leg, or the part between hock and fetlock, corresponds to our foot, the hoof and pastern being the toes. The horse may thus be said to walk upon the tips of his fingers and toes, and it will readily be seen why the leg weakens in proportion as the pastern and shank lengthen. ”

“ The fore feet are larger than the hind ones, are round, proportionate in size, strong, thickly padded, and covered with short, hard hair. The foot must point straight forward. The hind feet are smaller, not quite as round as fore feet, and thickly padded. The under surface of the pads of feet, and all the nails, should be distinctly black in colour. Hocks too much bent (cow hocks) detracts from the general appearance. Straight hocks are weak: both kinds are undesirable, and should be guarded against. ”

“ Nor should turns be used too much with young horses with blemished or worn-out hocks. As for the aids to be used, it depends upon whether the horse has a tendency to let the haunches swing out or the reverse—to let them drag inside. ”

“ And thankful I was, and so might be the cabman, to have that weapon nicely sheathed with silk.
Major Hockin's breath was short, through too much talking without action, and he waited for a minute at this door, to come back to his equanimity. And I thought that our female breath falls short for the very opposite reason—when we do too much and talk too little; which happily seldom happens. ”

“ Oh dear! oh dear! that ever I should come to this exposing of my things!”
“Madam, you shall have justice done, as sure as my name is Hockin. Gentlemen and ladies, if you are not all asleep, how would you like to be treated so? Because the weather is a trifle warm, there you lie like a parcel of Mexicans. If any body picked your pockets, would you have life enough to roll over?”
“I don't think I should,” said a fat young Briton, with a very good-natured face; “but for a poor woman I can stand upright. Major Hockin, here is a guinea for her. Perhaps more of us will give a trifle.” ”

“ It is most likely to occur in cow-hocked horses, where the hocks are turned inward, and the legs form a considerable angle outward, as in such cases the angular ligament must be continually on the stretch in order to confine the tendon. ”

“ Dwell over his hocks and the inside of his stifles, handle his tail, freely sponging his dock out, running the sponge down through the channel over the sheath, the inside of the thighs and hocks. Release the fore foot, and if he will stand a repetition of all these liberties quietly, he has learnt one important part of his education. ”

“ When a horse has been docked, the hair of the tail scarcely grows after it has reached to within six or seven inches above the hocks. The hocks of a large horse are about twenty-five inches above the ground. It is a general custom with London dealers to cut the hair of the tail very short before offering a horse for sale, so that it does not come down lower than to a distance of about nine inches above the hocks. ”

“ Hocker winked slyly at Daddy Perkiss and the fishermen.
The old man failed to appreciate the joke.
"It's temptin' Providence," he cried shrilly, pounding his cane on the beach. "If you ever sees that weapon agin, Mose Hocker, I'll give you ten pounds of the best plug terbacker that Bill Smith has in his store." ”

“ It was supposed that some warriors returning from a hunt, struck the Hockhocking just as the body of the drowned squaw floated past. White and the girl succeeded in reaching the Mount, where M’Clelland had been no indifferent spectator to the sudden commotion among the Indians, as the prairie warriors were seen to strike off in every direction, and before White and the girl had arrived, a party of some twenty warriors had already gained the eastern acclivity of the Mount, and were cautiously ascending, carefully keeping under cover. ”

“ I want you to know that the mountain pony's hocks are a feature not to be passed lightly by. They never fail to bring him commendation from the horseman who knows. The curby hocks sometimes found in the larger type of South Wales are unknown to him. His own are always of the right shape, having plenty of compact bone showing every curve and denture under thin, shining skin, and with clean-cut, powerful back sinews at an unhampered distance from the suspensory tendons. ”