60 MANUAL FOR STABLE SERGEANTS. 



at the quarters. This is called expansion, and amounts to about 

 one-twenty-fifth of an inch total increase in width of the foot at the 

 heel. 



117. Contraction. — ^When weight is removed from the foot, the 

 digital cushion and frog return to their normal shape, and the car- 

 tilages and quarters move inward to where they were before expan- 

 sion occurred. This is called contraction. 



118. The benefits derived from these movements are many; 

 they diminish jar or shock to the foot and leg, and prevent the evil 

 results of concussion; they increase the elasticity of the entire limb, 

 and assist in the circulation of the blood in the foot. 



