OF FARRIERY. 



237 



CHAPTER XXV. 



ON THE FEET, AND THEIR DISEASES. 



ON THE FOOT IN GENERAL. 



I AM now come to that all-important part of 

 our subject, " The Foot of the Horse,''' which 

 all veterinarians and sportsmen who have 

 seen the anatomy of the Hor^^e's foot, must 

 acknowledge to be the grandest piece of me- 

 chanism ever formed by Nature. When all 

 parts are in health, the unison of action of 

 such an organic body will at once give suffi- 

 cient occupation to the mind of the philo- 

 sopher, the student, or even those lovers of 

 Horses, the country gentlemen, who, were 

 they to be well acquainted with the anatomy 

 of the foot, would then have an opportu- 

 nity of preventing themselves, the many errors 

 committed by bungling farriers ; and here I 

 must beg leave to say a word or two in 

 favour of my brother veterinarians. As for 

 instance: the veterinarian is supposed to be 

 proprietor of a shoeing forge, with several 

 workmen ; and above all, a foreman, to see 

 that all shall be right. What is the conse- 

 quence ? A gentleman sends for the surgeon, 

 and informs him that his Horse is ill-shod at 

 his establishment, and lie scarcely can ride 

 him, he stumbles so. The consequence is, 

 the surgeon orders him to his forge, and pro- 

 mises he will see and attend to the shoeing; 



himself. He does so, and the shoes are taken 

 off; and in all probability, being nailed on 

 too tight is the simple case. This being 

 attended to, under the master's eye, gives 

 immediate relief, and the Horse is sent away 

 with satisfaction. But somehow it happens, 

 that neither foreman or any other of the work- 

 men could discover this, until the master found 

 it out. Now, if the master have any medical 

 practice, how can he be in two places at 

 once? Why the matter must be left to the 

 foreman, who understands as much about the 

 matter as the piece of iron he is working on ; 

 but in case of a repetition, the surgeon gets 

 the blame ; and in all probability, he stands a 

 chance of losing an employer. Many persons 

 would say, " How is this, the man has shod 

 Horses for these twenty years, he ought to 

 know?" The answer follows easily: " Does 

 he know the anatomy of the Horse's foot?" 

 " No ; I am not aware that he does." 



These I think are circumstances that oughv 

 to be taken into consideration, and let not the 

 veterinary surgeon have all the odium when 

 it is unmerited. 



But to return to the foot of the Horse : it 



will not be necessary to advert to the anatomy 



of that important organ ; my business is to 



point -^'jt its various diseases, with the best 



3 o 



