454 HORSE-SHOEING 



shoe. The injury causes lameness, and is accompanied by staining of the 

 horn by effused blood underneath. An open, flat foot is most liable to corn, 

 and the shoe most likely to cause it is one that is fitted too short and too 

 close. Even a well-fitted shoe may cause a corn when it is allowed to 

 remain on the foot too long. As the hoof grows the shoe is carried 

 forward, and the extremity of the iron is shifted from its safe bearing 

 on the wall to a position which allows it to impinge on the seat of the 

 corn. The excessive retention of shoes frequently leads to their being- 

 forced outwards, and then the inner heel is brought over the sole on 

 the inside, and bruising results. 



The gravity of a corn depends upon the sensitive sole. In slight 

 cases removal of the shoe and its readjustment, so that no pressure on 



the bruised part can occur, is sutticient to 

 ensure a return of soundness. Sometimes 

 a day or two's rest and warm fomentation 

 of the foot are necessary. In more aggra- 

 vated cases it is right to suspect the forma- 

 tion of matter at the bruised part, and as 

 this is a serious condition within the hoof, 

 it is necessary to pare away all the dis- 

 coloured horn, and thus afford an opening 

 through which matter may escape. In cases 

 -Three-quarter Shoe ^^ ^om whcrc the discoloratiou of horn is 



not very great, and where lameness is not 

 excessive, it is inadvisable to cut away all the horn over the bruised 

 part. Horn takes time to grow again, and its absence spoils the bearing 

 surface of the foot. In very many cases a simple bruise, that would 

 have recovered in a few days by merely relieving the pressure of the 

 shoe, is made a source of injury and of recurrent lameness by the un- 

 necessary removal of all the horn between the wall and the liar. When 

 a slight corn is found with slight lameness, relief of pressure is easily 

 given by cutting off the inner heel of the shoe, thus forming what is 

 called a three-quarter shoe. This removal of iron is a safer and better 

 plan than removal of horn. 



Uneven pressure by a shoe may take place at other parts of the hoof. 

 A badly - fitted shoe very frequently bears disproportionately on the 

 quarters, and the wall becomes weak and broken. In such a case relief 

 is given either by lowering the wall or by adjusting the shoe so that 

 heels and toes for a time afford the only bearing. 



In all cases where a separation exists between the sole and wall, 

 bearing must be avoided, as the wall, when unsupported by a firmly- 



