8 July, igo;-] 



Lameness in Horses. 



423 



After the subsidence of the acute symptoms the treatment should con- 

 sist in allowing spells of walking exercise three or four times a day — at 

 first not more than a few hundred yards at a time, but increasing gradually 

 until recovery is complete. When the lameness or tenderness in action 

 peisists the application of a fly blister (see page 75) round the coronets is 

 often ad\antageous. A horse that has been foundered should always be shod 

 flat with broad-webbed shoes and careful attention should be paid by the 

 farrier when dressing the hoofs to the maintenance of its natural form. 

 (See Figs. 62 and 6^.) 



Villkis. 



Inflammation of the coronary band, from which the outer laver of the 

 hoof wall is secreted, is called " Villitis." It is a form of lameness 

 which occurs mostly in cart horses and is predisposed to by the practice 

 of shoeing with calkins. The character of the lameness much resembles 

 that of laminitis but the gait is a shuffling or gliding one. The wall of 

 the hoof at the top near the coronet becomes dry and cracked, both ver- 

 tically and horizontally, and ultimately may be likened to the roughened 

 back of an aged tree (see Fig 64). Later on. as the diseased horn grows 

 ■down the wall mav break awav. 



64. Hoof affecteu willi 



md scah' horn growth. 



vuuUs ' sliovving roiiglient'i 

 (After Hayes.) 



Treatment. — Mild blisters applied round the coronet will assist in 

 promoting a more healthful growth of horn. Oily dressings may be ap- 

 plied to the hoof to minimize the tendency of the horn to crack and split. 



Navicular Disease. 



This is one of the few diseases which has no regularly used common 

 name. The terms " grogginess " or "groggy" are sometimes used but 

 they have reference to the character of the; action of horses suffering from 

 the disease. The word " Navicular " means boat-shaped (L. navis — a 

 ship) and refers to the shape of the small shuttle-like bone situated inside 

 the hoof at the back of the coffin or pedal bone over which the main 

 flexor tendon of the foot {-flexor pedis ferforans) passes before it is in- 

 serted to the under surface of the pedal bone. (See Figs. 57 and 65.) 



Nature and Causation. — The pathology of navicular disease was for 

 a long time obscure ; and now while its characteristics are well understood 



