MANAGEMENT OF THE FEET 287 



ditions comes within the province of the veterinarian, but the prevention 

 of the mere decomposition of the external surface by moisture is a part of 

 the duties of the groom, and so is the application of the proper remedies 

 for it, as soon as the nature of the case is clearly made out. Here 

 antiseptic astringents, which are quite out of place in inflammatory thrush 

 are the only useful applications, and by their means alone can the decom- 

 position be stopped. Of these Sir W. Burnett's solution of chloride of 

 zinc is the best, but in mild cases, the permanganate of soda will answer 

 well, and is not so poisonous in its nature if carelessly left about. Friar's 

 Balsam, with as much of the sulphate of zinc dissolved in it as it will 

 take up, is the old-fashioned groom's remedy for thrush, and a very good 

 one it is if carefully insinuated into the cleft of the frog on a piece of 

 tow wetted with it. 



A mixtui'e of tar and salt in the proportion of four or five parts of 

 the former to one of the latter, is an excellent remedy, but there are 

 some cases which may be considered as constitutional or hereditary, and 

 requiring not only local dressing but internal medicines. The grand 

 principle, however, is to prevent thrush rather than to cure it, but when 

 horses are bought, or come home from grass with it, the curative method 

 must be carried out. 



The eemoval of the shoes at regular intervals, whether they are worn 

 out or not, is a most important part of the duties of the groom. On 

 examining the shape of the foot it will be seen that the diameter of the 

 circle in contact with the shoe is greater than that of the coronet, and 

 hence as the shoe is forced away from its original position by the growth 

 of the horn, it confines the walls to the extent of the difference between 

 the diameter of the foot at its old position and that of the part which it 

 now occupies. For if two lines from the surface of the coronet on each 

 side were continued through the outside surface of the crust to the new 

 seat of the shoe, they would be far from parallel, and yet the shoe-nails 

 must have been carried on in perfect parallel lines on account of the un- 

 yielding nature of ii'on. For this reason a shoe, when it has not been 

 removed at the end of a month, will be found to lie within the heel of one 

 side or the other, by which to some extent contraction is prevented, but at 

 the expense of the heel, into which the corresponding part of the shoe has 

 entered. This is a frequent cause of corns, and horses which have once been 

 subject to that disease should have their shoes removed once a fortnight. 



One of the most annoying accidents to the horseman is the loss of a 

 shoe, whether it happens in the hunting-field or on the road. Some horses 

 can scarcely be prevented by any care of their grooms from pulling off a 

 shoe in hunting when they get into deep ground, but on the road there is 

 no such excuse, and the frequent loss of a shoe by the hack or harness-horse 

 is sufficient to condemn the groom of carelessness in this particular. Every 

 morning when the feet are picked out it is easy to look the shoes over and 

 feel if they are tight. The clenches also ought to be examined, and if they 

 are not raised at all it may safely be predicated that the day's journey will 

 be completed without the shoe being lost. A raised clench may severely 

 cut a horse on the inside of the other leg, and in those who are predisposed 

 to " speedy cut " it may cause severe injury, and perhaps occasion a fall of 

 the most dangerous character. 



