74 



CAUSES OF INJURY. 



containing a sensitive nerve, destined to endow the foot with the attributes of a 



tactile organ. 



" This distribution will enable us to realize, to some extent, the amount of in- 

 jury done by paring. The horn thrown out for their defense and support being re- 

 moved by the farrier's knife, and perhaps the ends of these villi cut through, the 

 meager pellicle remaining rapidly shrivels up, the containing cavity of each vas- 

 cular tuft as quickly contracts on the 

 vessels and nerves, which, in their turn, 

 diminish in volume, disappear, or be- 

 come morbidly sensitive, through this 

 squeezing influence. The feet of a horse 

 so treated are always hot, the soles are 

 dry and stony, and become unnaturally 

 concave. The animal goes tender after 

 each shoeing, and it is not until the horn 

 has been regenerated to a certain ex- 

 tent, that he steps with anything like ease. 

 Until the new material has been formed, 

 each papilli experiences the same amount 

 of inconvenience and suffering that a hu- 

 man foot does in a new, tight boot. 



" This tenderness is usually ascribed to 

 the nails and other causes ; and the horse, 

 in the stable, rests on one foot, then on 

 the other, as if he suffered uneasiness 

 * * * 



Fig. 586. — Gifford's Fool as it Appeared 

 Before Treatment. 



or pam. 



" All the preparation any kind of foot usually requires for the shoe may be 

 summed up in a few words ; leveling the crust in conformity with the limb and foot, 

 and removing as much of its margin as will restore it to its natural length, rounding 

 its outer edge at the same time, and leaving the sole, bars, frog, and heels in all their 

 naturalintegrity." 



Osmer, an old writer of good standing, in 1751 said : — 



" I believe there are many horses that might travel 

 their whole lifetime unshod on any road, if they 

 were rasped round and short on the toe ; because 

 all feet exposed to hard objects become thereby more 

 obdurate, if the sole be never pared : and some, 

 by their particular form, depth, and strength, are 

 able to resist them quite, and to support the weight 

 without breaking ; and here a very little reflection 

 will teach ^us whence the custom arose of shoeing 

 horses in one part of the world and not in another. 

 In Asia there is no such custom of shoeing the horse 

 at all, because the feet acquire a very obdurate and 

 firm texture from the dryness of the climate and 

 the soil, and do really want no defense. But every 

 rider has a rasp to shorten his horse's feet, which 

 would otherwise grow long and rude, and the crust 



Fig. 587.— Shoe Fitted for Cur- 

 ing Corns. From Coleman. 



of the hoof would most certainly split. 



