534 THE HORSE. 
CORNS. 
THESE TROUBLESOME results of bad shoeing, or subsequent neglect of the 
feet, make their appearance in the sole of the foot, in the angle formed 
between the crust and the bar (see fig. 1 (EK), Chap. XXXII.). Where 
the foot is properly prepared for the shoe, and the smith seats the heel of 
the crust and the bar on a level surface, no corn will make its appearance 
in a healthy foot ; but if a corn has previously evisted, or if the shoe is 
allowed to press upon the sole at E (see fig. 1, Chap. XX XIT.), the delicate 
blood-vessels of the sensible sole are ruptured, and, instead of secreting a 
sound horn, capable of bearing the slight strain upon it which is required, 
a fungoid growth is formed, presenting a reddish appearance, and exqui- 
sitely sensitive. This morbid substance does not at all resemble the hard 
corn of the human subject, which is a thickened secretion of cuticle, but 
it bears some comparison with the soft corns that form so often between 
the toes, and give so much trouble in their removal. It is, in fact, a new 
growth, of a semi-fungoid character, partly made up of granulations and 
partly of horny matter, the two being closely united. The corn may arise 
from improper pressure made on this part of the sensible sole, either directly 
from the shoe, or indirectly by pressing a thin brittle crust inwards upon it. 
Generally, however, it is met with at the inner heel, from the shoe being 
overgrown by that part of the foot when kept on too long. The outer 
nails do not allow it to work in the contrary direction, and if there is a 
clip on the outer quarter this is rendered still more improbable. If, 
therefore, shoeing is properly managed, corns may always be prevented, 
and we shall see in the directions for shoeing, at Chapter XXXII, how 
this is to be managed. At present I have to consider how they are 
to be relieved or cured when they are already established. 
THE ORDINARY MODE OF TREATING CoRNS is simply to cut them out, 
leaving the bar and heel of the crust full, and thus taking all pressure off 
them. This enables the horse to do his work for about ten days, but then 
the shoe must be removed, and the paring-out repeated, a process which 
Weakens the already weak crust by making additional nail-holes in it. 
The shoe at the same time is generally “sprung,” that is, it is so bent or 
filed that the heel does not fully bear upon it; but this does not last 
many hours, and is of little real utility. The plan answers well enough 
for the purposes of fraudulent sellers, as the horse runs sound for about 
ten days; and when he fails, and on taking off his shoe he is discovered 
to have a corn, it is impossible to prove that it existed at the time of sale 
by any evidence but that of the smith who shod him previously to it. 
Excepting, therefore, in very slight and recent cases, in which it will 
sometimes be followed by success, this plan of treatment is only palliative, 
and what is worse, it tends to increase the weakness of the foot and con- 
sequent tendency to the disease. 
For THE CURATIVE PLAN we must do something more than merely 
take the pressure off the sole ; the bar and heel of the crust must also be 
relieved, and the sensible sole must be stimulated, by a proper application, 
to secrete healthy horn, as well as by pressure on the frog. If the horse 
is to be rested, this can be done easily enough by taking off his shoes, but 
he may be kept at work by putting on a bar-shoe (fig. 5, Chap. XX XIL.), 
and cutting down the bar and crust, so as to throw all the pressure off 
them upon the frog. A double purpose is effected in this way. First, the 
sensible sole is relieved of the constant pressure which the crust bears 
