Special Report on Diseases of the HorseUnited States. Bureau of Animal Industry
Science
Special Report on Diseases of the Horse
United States. Bureau of Animal Industry
Horses -- Diseases
chloroform and air (equal proportions) to insensibility may secure a
respite, during which the missing members may be replaced. If the waters
have been discharged and the mucus dried up, the genital passages and
body of the fetus should be lubricated with lard or oil before any
attempt at extraction is made. When the missing member has been brought
up into position and presentation has been rendered natural, traction
on the fetus must be made only during a labor pain. If a mare is
inclined to kick, it may be necessary to apply hobbles to protect the
operator.
DIFFICULT PARTURITION FROM NARROW PELVIS.--A disproportion between the
fetus got by a large stallion and the pelvis of a small dam is a serious
obstacle to parturition, sometimes seen in the mare. This is not the
rule, however, as the foal up to birth usually accommodates itself to
the size of the dam, as illustrated in the successful crossing of
Percheron stallions on mustang mares. If the disproportion is too great
the only resort is embryotomy.
FRACTURED HIP BONES.--More commonly the obstruction comes from
distortion and narrowing of the pelvis as the result of fractures.
(Plate XIII, fig. 2.) Fractures at any point of the lateral wall or
floor of the pelvis are repaired with the formation of an extensive bony
deposit bulging into the passage of the pelvis. The displacement of the
ends of the broken bone is another cause of constriction, and between
the two conditions the passage of the fetus may be rendered impossible
without embryotomy. Fracture of the sacrum (the continuation of the
backbone forming the croup) leads to the depression of the posterior
part of that bone in the roof of the pelvis and the narrowing of the
passage from above downward by a bony ridge presenting its sharp edge
forward.
In all cases in which there has been injury to the bones of the pelvis
the obvious precaution is to withhold the mare from breeding and to use
her for work only.
If a mare with a pelvis thus narrowed has got in foal inadvertently,
abortion may be induced in the early months of gestation by slowly
introducing the oiled finger through the neck of the womb and following
this by the other fingers until the whole hand has been introduced. Then
the water bags may be broken, and with the escape of the liquid the womb
will contract on the solid fetus and labor pains will ensue. The fetus
being small will pass easily.
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