Common Diseases of the Horse 249 



Treatment. — Remove the shoe, and then relieve the pressure by 

 as h'ttle paring away of the horn as possible. The bars should not 

 be touched. It may be that only a very little thinning of the horn 

 is necessary, and the ordinary shoe may be replaced. In many 

 cases a good remedy will be found by putting a three-quarter shoe 

 on the affected side, i.e. by cutting off a couple of inches or so of 

 the inner branch of the shoe. 



When lameness is slight but persistent, poulticing for a day or 

 two is very useful to soften the horn, and thus reducing the pres- 

 sure. Afterwards a three-quarter shoe and a leather sole, dressed 

 with equal parts of Stockholm tar and Venice turpentine, can be 

 applied. 



Corn becomes serious whenever matter forms, and if there is 

 great lameness, particularly if accompanied by fever symptoms, it 

 will be necessary to see if it is present. For this purpose the horn 

 must be thinned until the least trace of blood appears, when paring 

 must be stopped, the part disinfected with 5 per cent of carbolic 

 acid solution, and a leather sole dressed with tow and Venice tur- 

 pentine applied. If matter be present a fairly large opening must 

 be made, and the wound syringed out with antiseptic solution. A 

 bar shoe must be then put on, with a leather sole that will slip in 

 and out. It should be dressed with carbolic ointment, and the 

 parts attended to daily. In all cases where matter is suspected in 

 a horse's foot the advice of a veterinary surgeon should be immedi- 

 ately sought, as unless speedy relief is given most serious conditions 

 are likely to ensue, often resulting in the death of the horse. 



Quitter 



Quittor is a wound of the foot in which one or more sinuses 

 or channels discharging matter at the coronet occur. They are 

 always the result of some preceding injury, such as a tread on the 

 top of the coronet, a neglected corn, a prick or injury to the 

 sensitive part of the foot from the nail in shoeing, or any other 

 injury, as a result of which matter has formed in the foot and not 

 been allowed to escape. 



In many cases the abscess breaks out at the heel. This may 

 or may not heal. Later on, secondary abscesses appear discharging 

 pus, and there is no disposition to heal. If the disease is allowed 

 to go on unchecked serious damage will be done to the structures 

 inside the foot. The matter seems to have a most corrosive action, 

 and attacks the lateral cartilages, burrowing through them in several 

 places, and causing them to become loosened and pieces of them 



