CONTRACTION 301 



ibserved the shape of the horse's foot, must have seen that in proportion to 'ts heigh*, 

 or neglected growth, it contracts and closes round the coronet. A low-heeled horsa 

 might have other serious defects, of which it will be our duty to speak^ but hf haa 

 seldom a contracted foot. 



Another source of contraction is the want of natural moisture. The unshod colt has 

 seldom contracted feet, nor does the horse at grass acquire them, because the hoof IB 

 kept cool and damp by occasional rain, and by the regular dew. It is thus rendered 

 supple, and its elasticity is preserved, and the expansive power of the foot is uninjured. 

 The hoof of the stabled horse sometimes has not one drop of moisture on it for several 

 days. The effect of this, in the contraction of the horn, is sufficiently evident. Hence 

 the propriety of stopping the feet where there is the least tendency to contraction. 

 The intelligent and careful groom will not omit it a single night. Cow-dung, with a 

 small portion of clay to give it consistence, is a common and very good stopping. A 

 better one is a piece of thick felt cut to the shape of the sole and soaked in water. 

 The common stopping of tar and grease is peculiarly objectionable, for it closes the 

 pores of the feet, and ultimately increases the dryness and brittleness which it was 

 designed to remedy. 



The usual management of the farmer's horse that is often turned out after his daily 

 task is exacted, or whose work is generally performed where the feet are exposed to 

 moisture, is an excellent preventive against contraction. 



Some persons have complained much of the influence of litter. If the horse stands 

 many hours in the day with his feet embedded in straw, it is supposed that the hoof 

 must be unnaturally heated ; and it is said that the horn will contract under the 

 influence of heat. It is seldom, however, that the foot is so surrounded by the littei 

 that its heat will be sufficiently increased to produce this effect. It will be difficult 

 to produce the case in which contraction, or thrush, or tenderness, has been produced 

 by the horse standing on dry litter. There are thousands of horses that stand upon 

 straw twenty hours out of the twenty-four, without receiving the slightest injury from 

 it. The author of this work is not one of those who would, during the day, remove 

 all litter from under the horse. It gives a naked and uncomfortable appearance to the 

 stable. There is a considerable difference in our own feelings whether we stand for 

 an hour or two on the hard stones, or a soft carpet, and especially whether we beat 

 our feet upon the one or the other. Humanity and a proper care of the foot of the 

 horse should induce the owner to keep some litter under the animal during the day ; 

 but his feet need not sink so deeply in it that their temperature becomes much affected 

 If the straw is suffered to remain until it is wet, hot, and rotten, the effluvia proceeding 

 from it may produce cough, or inflammation of the eyes, or thrushes in the feet; baf 

 a light bed of straw, with tolerable attention to cleanliness, can never do harm, 

 "There are horses," says Professor Stewart, "that, in the habit of pawing and 

 stamping, slip about and sometimes lame themselves on the bare stones; many dis- 

 posed to lie down during the day, will not, or ought not, to do it, with a slight portion 

 of litter under them. It is a frequent observation with regard to road horses, and 

 many others, that the more a horse lies the better he works. Lame or tender-footed 

 horses cannot lie too much, and a great deal of standing ruins the best legs and feet. 

 Some horses, indeed, do not need this day-bedding, but many are the better for it, 

 and none are the worse."* 



Thrushes are much oftener the consequence than the cause of contraction. The 

 horny frog, yielding to the pressure of the contracted quarters, is diminished in size, 

 and the lower portion of the fleshy frog becomes imprisoned, irritated, and inflamed, 

 and pus or matter is discharged at the cleft ; yet there are many heels in the last 

 stage of contraction that are not thrushy. On the other hand, thrush never long 

 existed, accompanied by much discharge, without producing a disposition to con- 

 traction ; therefore, thrush may be considered as both the cause and consequence of 

 contraction. 



The removal of the bars takes away a main impediment to contraction. Their us* 

 in assisting the expansion of the foot has been already stated, and should a disposition 

 t^ contraction be produced by any other cause, the cutting away of the bars would 

 hasten and aggravate the evil ; but the loss of the bar would not of itself produce 

 contraction. 



* Stewart's Stable (Ec nomy, p. 139. 



