180 A STUDY OF FARM ANIMALS 



and, if well developed, causes serious lameness. Ring bones 

 are fairly common, but when well developed are easily detected. 

 Splint is a bony projection or roughness usually found 

 on the inside of the splint bone, which lies close in with the 

 cannon bone of the front leg, and is commonly regarded as 

 the cannon. This is not regarded as a distinct unsoundness, 

 although very common and referred to quite frequently. 

 Splints sometimes appear on young horses and then disap- 

 pear with the mature development of the animals. Splints 

 may often be easily seen while standing in front of the 

 horse and looking at the inside of the legs at the cannons. 



Quarter-crack is a splitting or cracking of the bony part 

 of the hoof, usually of the front foot. This crack may ex- 

 tend the entire length of the 

 hoof, and be so bad as to re- 

 quire fastening the parts with 

 metal clamps or nails to keep 

 the cracks from extending or 

 widening. Horses with brittle 

 or soft hoofs are most affected 

 with this trouble. Quarter- 

 crack may develop so far as to 



Figure 60. Quarter crack. Repro- -i i ji i j_i_ i 



duced from ''Diseases of the Horse," break through the lower part 



Q. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Qf ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^.^ 



and lameness, although this trouble is not usually serious. 



Toe-crack is similar to quarter-crack, but is usually on 

 the hind foot, in the front part, and often extends the length 

 of the hoof. 



Founder, or laminitis, as the veterinarian calls it, is an 

 unsoundness of the feet. It is due to an inflammation of the 

 delicate tissues within the hoof, and is usually found in the 

 front feet. It is caused by a variety of conditions, such as 

 overwork, overfeeding, exposure, etc. If well established, it 

 is incurable and causes the horse much suffering. The com- 

 mon symptom of this trouble is lameness, which is often 



