184 NAVIX ON THE HORSE. 



and canker; "but the examination, by paring away the sole as 

 recommended, will clearly determine simple corn. 



Causes. — Corn is, perhaps, a disease peculiar to the domes- 

 ticated horse, and generally so to those that have been shod. 

 Corn is always the result of pressure on the horny sole, at the 

 point where the disease occurs, thus bruising the sensitive 

 sole, and causing a little blood to ooze from it, or be extrav- 

 asated. The secretion of horn from the bruised part of the 

 sensitive sole, is changed, being less in quantity, and of a 

 spongy character. The blood which had oozed out tinges this 

 soft horn, giving it the dark red color seen in examining the 

 sole for corn. 



Contraction is a very common cause of corn. The heel 

 wiring in, presses on or squeezes the heel of the sole, and 

 bruises it, thus giving rise to corn. But the most common 

 cause is error in shoeing. It is supposed, by some, that shoeing 

 necessarily gives rise to corn; and this may be true, to some 

 extent, for it certainly interferes, in some degree, with the 

 free and natural expansion of the hoof. But bad shoeing 

 vastly increases the liability to corn. I shall now point out 

 the errors in shoeing which generally give rise to corn. 



The inner side of the hoof is thinner and weaker than the 

 outer, naturally. Some blacksmiths pare down the inside 

 border of the crust much lower than the outside, which lets 

 the shoe rest on the inner bar, and even on the part of the 

 sole between it and the crust, and which must certainly give 

 rise to corn. The inner heel and quarter should not be cut 

 down, but merely leveled, and if the border is too deep or 

 projecting around the toe, it may be sufficiently lowered, com- 

 mencing at the inner quarter and paring down around to the 

 outside of the hoof, which may be cut down as low as neces- 

 sary. The border of the crust should rest on the outer part 

 of the web of the shoe, and around the toe and the forward 

 part of the quarters their outer edges should be even ; but 

 from where the quarters begin to turn in, the web of the shoe 



