On the General Treatment of the Feet. 163 



at once, moreover, how it happens that Horses which frequently ex- 

 hibit no lameness on the turf, are hardly able to bear the gentlest 

 trotting, upon (he pavement, or upon hard roads. 



And though this very common fact, has sometimes been attempted 

 to be accounted for, upon other principles, such as the stiffness of 

 the muscles and tendons, and the thickening of the ligaments of the 

 joints, from chronic inflammation, yet, I am perfectly satisfied that 

 the cause of the evil, is, in most cases, to be sought for in the Feet 

 alone ; though, I am far from denying that the circumstances which 

 have been mentioned, may, sometimes, have a share in the produc- 

 tion of the lameness. It happens every now and then, that Horses 

 which have very thin crusts, and whose sensible elastic Laminae at- 

 tached to the coffin bone, are consequently very weak, go unsafely, 

 and become incapable of bearing the effects of hard roads, long 

 before any material alteration of structure, in the way of contrac- 

 tion, is exhibited in the Feet. Sometimes, indeed, this apparently 

 inexplicable lameness, in well formed Feet, depends upon the cir- 

 cumstance of the shoe, resting upon some part of the sole, and now 

 and then (especially when it arises suddenly and immediately after 

 shoeing) upon the careless or injudicious mode in which the nails are 

 driven. This latter circumstance, however, is usually called pinch- 

 ing a Horse, or shoeing him too tight. But, many of the Smiths 

 who use this term, are perfectly well aware of its absurdity, and 

 employ it only as a cover for their own negligence. For, Jt is im- 

 possible that the nails can pinch any part of the quick, a ad pro- 

 duce sudden lameness by pressure only, which is the way in which 

 tht;y wish the phrase of pinching to be understood. For, either 

 the nail must be buried altogether in the dead insensible horn^ 



