HORSES AND MULES. 301 



cushion for the yet tender sole, will enable the horse now to 

 resume work. 



Corns, so called, are an accompaniment of hoof rot, or some 

 other disease, which should be first treated. They are not 

 properly corns, but consist of patches of blood or matter forced 

 into the horn from above. When the hoof is cut away, a red 

 spot is discovered, which will grow brighter the more the hoof 

 is cut away. If not attended to promptly, ulcers are formed, 

 and the confined matter finds an opening either at the heel, or 

 the coronet, sometimes continuing around the foot and causing 

 the hoof to drop off entirely. Cure the hoof rot, and as a 

 general thing the corns will disappear. 



Stone Bruise, Nail Pricks, and bruises of the feet, should 

 all be treated with a few applications of the corrosive liniment. 

 The bar and shoe, and tow filling, to ease the pressure upon the 

 injured part, are to be recommended. The best immediate 

 remedy, when the liniment is not at hand, is water on a flan- 

 nel bandage, and fastened around the fetlock. It should be 

 kept wet. 



Narrow Heel, or contraction of the hoof, as we have seen, 

 is a resultant from navicular disease, and always denotes a dis- 

 eased condition of some other portion of the foot ; for so long as 

 the foot is sound, it will secrete healthy horn ; and if there is 

 no fever to dry it up, it will not contract. With the disappear- 

 ance of the disease, the foot will again secrete healthy horn. 

 When this is assured, the horn should be frequently rubbed 

 with the glycerine ointment. The common practice of filling 

 ' the foot with cow dung, is based on the idea that the foot should 

 be kept moist, which is correct. But it can be much better 

 accomplished by stuffing with wet rags, which also tend to keep 

 the foot clean. The cow dung tends to produce other disorders 

 of the feet. A soft pasture is nature's remedy for all ailments 



