HORSES: THEIR POINTS AND MANAGEMENT 



pressed, the cartilages do not yield. They will be found hard, 

 and perhaps greatly enlarged. If lameness is present the toe 

 of the foot is brought to the ground first. The layman should 

 have no difficulty in detecting side bones. It is usually the 

 fore feet that are affected, but it may be the hind. 



Treatment. — As a rule this is very unsatisfactory. Once 

 the bony deposit is laid down, the writer knows of nothing that 

 will do away with it. Firing or blistering is not the slightest 

 use. If lameness is present allow rest, and have a bar shoe put 

 on. Apply a little iodine ointment to the cartilages twice daily. 

 Two veterinary operations have been suggested and 

 applied for the relief of the pain, therefore lameness. 

 The first of these is unnerving. The second is of a 

 simple nature, and its object is that of reheving the pressure. 

 It consists of making two or three straight cuts through the wall 

 of the hoof by means of a fine saw- or firing iron. The hoof is 

 first of all rasped and then sawn clean through, taking care not 

 to injure the sensitive structures beneath. The cuts are made 

 on each side of the wall. If other means fail, the author would 

 certainly advise the owner to have this operation done. It 

 must not be supposed that it cures the disease. 



FISTULA OF THE FOOT (QUITTOR). 



Quittor is a very common disease amongst horses, of both 

 the heavier and fighter breeds. It is characterised by the 

 presence of a suppurating channel or channels about the coronet, 

 and is the result of an external injury. Very commonly it is 

 the outcome of a prick to the sole, either through the horse 

 stepping upon some sharp pointed body, or inflicted inadver- 

 tentlv during shoeing. The matter being unable to find, or 



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