382 EXAMINATION OF HORSES AS TO SOUNDNESS 



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gentle arch upward. Any extreme concavity must receive careful con- 

 sideration. It may be due to an overgrowth of tlie crust being permitted 

 in the course of shoeing, but it is frequently the result of contraction of the 

 wall consequent upon some deep-seated trouble, such as navicular disease. 



Confirmation of this will be found in a shrunken frog, a thick, solid, 

 upright, blocky-looking hoof, and more or less obvious lameness. Some 

 degree of hollowness or undue concavity of the sole will arise from many 

 causes which have led to the foot being rested for a long period, and which 

 of course must be associated with unsoundness. It must, however, be 

 pointed out that where, as a consequence of indifferent shoeing, the crust 

 is permitted to remain too deep or to project too far beyond the sole, 

 the latter will have the appearance of being too concave, and may be 

 actually so. Whether it is or not is a matter for the examiner to decide 

 from the general appearance of the organ. 



The froo- will claim attention now. It should be free from thrush 

 and canker. A good, wide, deep, bold frog is much to be desired. A 

 small, dry, shrunken frog is an object of some suspicion, especially in aged 

 horses, where it may be associated with navicular disease, or some ailment 

 for which the foot has been rested. Although not an unsoundness in itself, 

 it is an indication significant of disease elsewhere, and calls for careful 

 consideration. Thrush in its milder form, when unattended with lameness, 

 does not constitute unsoundness, but where the sensitive frog is much 

 exposed it must be so considered. 



In those cases where the frog is broken and ragged the detached 

 portions should be removed, and the general surface of the organ in- 

 spected for underlying disease. 



Canker which appears in the form of a fungating growth about the 

 frog or sole, or both, attended with an offensive discharge, is one of the 

 worst forms of unsoundness. 



The sole may be too flat, but, as a natural conformation, will not come 

 under the category of unsoundness unless identified with lameness; it is 

 nevertheless a sign of weakness, and horses with flat soles are never a 

 desirable purchase. 



When the sole has become convex, or, as it is frequently expressed, 

 " dropped ", as the result of laminitis or any other cause, the animal is 

 unsound. 



The Stifle. — From the fore-limbs we pass to the hind ones, and here, 

 in addition to many of the diseases already noticed, there ar& others 

 peculiar to them requiring special consideration. 



The stifle should be free from enlargement or from any hereditary 

 or acquired impediment to its perfect action. 



