78 The Management and Treatment of the Horse, 



healthy well-formed foot when the sole is placed upon 

 the ground the front exhibits an angle of forty-five, 

 differing, however, in many horses to the extent of the 

 angle ; still in a healthy foot it is about the fourth 

 part of a semicircle. When the crust has a greater 

 degree of obliquity it is said that the crust has " fallen 

 in," and when the sole is too flat, it is said to be 

 pumiced or convex. If the front be more upright 

 than the above angle it is a sure sign of a contracted 

 foot with the sole too concave. When the crust is 

 deep at the heel it is a foot liable to contraction, 

 thrush, sandcrack, and inflammation. The pastern 

 will be found too upright, and the horse have a very 

 unpleasant action. If, on the other hand, the crust 

 diminished too rapidly from front to back and the 

 heels are low, this is always accompanied by too great 

 obliquity of the pastern, producing a weakness in the 

 joint and liability to sprain the back sinew. The foot 

 itself will be weak and have a tendency to that hidden 

 conrplaint called navicular joint disease. The general 

 thickness of the crust in front is about half-an-inch, 

 becoming thinner at the quarters and heels. This 

 will show the necessity for shoeing-smiths being 

 adepts at driving nails, seeing the small space they 

 have to nail to. The crust is thinner and a little 

 higher up on the inside than on the outside quarters. 

 This is another wise provision of Nature, because being 

 placed under the inner splint bone more of its weight 

 rests upon the inside than the outside, consequently 

 it is enabled to expand more, and thus, by its elasti- 

 city, assists in lessening the force of concussion. The 



