EXAMINATION OF THE LEGS AND FEET 379 



in texture, the heels are low, the toe thick, and in some cases the sole is 

 more or less convex and the front of the hoof concave or sunken. In the 

 morbidly upright deep feet the texture of the horn is close and compact, 

 and the hoof presents a dense solid appearance. This is especially the case 

 in navicular disease, where the sole is very concave, the heel narrow, and 

 the frog wasted. Where these characters exist there can be no doubt as 

 to the animal's unsoundness. 



Careful search should at all times be made for cracks in the hoof, or, as 

 they are termed, "sandcracks" (Vol. II, p. 366). These ruptures of the 

 horn occur in various situations, in some of which they are not at once 

 apparent. This is very much the case where they are of limited extent 

 and occupy the upper border of the hoof hidden by the overhanging hair. 

 In the lighter breeds of horses this accident is most frequently seen on the 

 inner quarter, while in draught-horses it is more often noticed in front of 

 the hoof; wherever they occur, they represent a serious form of unsoundness, 

 serious not only on account of the long period required for their treatment, 

 but also because of their liability to recur. The examiner should be on the 

 alert here, for unscrupulous dealers do not hesitate to fill the cracks with 

 composition, and the artful way in which it is done renders deception 

 possible unless the greatest care is observed. 



A defect, which in some instances must be included in the category of 

 unsoundness, is that comprehended in the term " shelly feet ", by which is 

 understood a dry and brittle condition of the horn, which, being also loose 

 in texture, splits and breaks on the slightest provocation, rendering shoeing 

 difficult, and sooner or later impossible. 



Another defect in the horn, to which unsoundness attaches, is that 

 condition of the crust known as "false quarter". Here there is a local 

 deficiency of development in the hoof arising out of an injury to the 

 coronet, in which the horn-secreting band has been to some extent destroyed 

 and the hoof weakened. It is recognized by a deep wide furrow passing 

 from the top to the bottom of the hoof. 



Knee (Posterior Aspect). Turning round, we now direct attention 

 to the posterior aspect of the limb, and the first part requiring notice is the 

 knee. Here we are sometimes confronted with a soft fluctuating swelling 

 on either side, resulting from a distension of the sheath of the tendons 

 with fluid, and commonly termed " thoroughpin " of the knee from its 

 resemblance to that enlargement which appears from time to time above 

 and behind the hock-joint. 



The back tendons and ligaments will next come under notice, and 

 as the hand passes over them it should particularly note their condition 

 about the lower part of the upper third of the canon-bone, where the check 



