12 THE SHOEING OF HORSES. 



"concave form of foot is more prone to navicular disease than 

 the other forms ; also to disease of the frog, sandcrack, and to 

 contraction. On the other hand, flat feet are more predisposed 

 to corns, descent of the sole or pumiced foot, and seediness of the 

 toe and quarters. The flatter the feet, the more carefully the 

 shoe requires to be fitted, the greater the care necessary in seating 

 the shoe, and the broader the web for the defence of the sole. 

 Horsemen, as a rule, prefer the concave to any other form of foot: 

 other forms are regarded by them as somewhat abnormal, and the 

 concave is regarded as the model form. In life this is not so : the 

 best feet, generally speaking, are to be found in the semi-concave 

 class. They possess, as a rule, an abundance of horn at the sole 

 and the wall ; are not so liable as the former to seedy toe, navi- 

 cular disease, and sandcrack, as the concave ; nor, on the other 

 hand, are they so liable to seedy toe, seediness of the quarters, 

 corns, and descent of the sole as the flat- formed foot. 



Growth of Feet. — Ere we conclude the present section a few 

 remarks are necessary respecting the growth of the foot. The 

 rate at which the feet of horses grow or are reproduced will give 

 clear and precise indication to the farrier of the quantity of hoof 

 and sole he may with safety remove from the foot at each shoeing. 

 The wall is formed or reproduced at the coronet, by a mass of 

 blood vessels named the vascular villi. These vessels are situate 

 behind, and to some extent are protected by the frog band. (See 

 Plate I., Fig. i; and also Plate III., Fig. i8.) The wall grows 

 from above downwards, and in the best feet its reproduction will 

 rarely exceed five-sixteenths of an Inch per month, or about one 



