CONTRACTION. 295 



(he propriety of sloppin«!f the feet. The intelligent and careful groom will 

 not omit it a single niglit. Cow-dung, witii a small portion of clay to give 

 it consistence, is a common and very good stopj)ing: a better one is a piece 

 of think felt, cut to tiic shape of the sole, and soaked in water; this may bo 

 procured, ready prepared fi.)r use, at any saddler's. The common stopping 

 of tar and grease is |x^culiarly objectionable, closing the pores of the 

 feet, and ullimately increasing tiie dryness and brittleness which it was 

 designed to remedy. 



Tlic usual management of the farmer's horse, wliicii is often turned out 

 after his daily task is exacted, or at least whose work returns with tlie day, 

 and is generally performed wiiere the feel are exposed to moisture, is an 

 excellent ])rcvenlive against contraction. 



Some intelligent persons have complained much of the influence of 

 liitcr. If the horse stand many hours in the day with his foot embedded in 

 straw, it is supposed tiiat the hoof must be unnaturally heated; and it is 

 said that the horn will curl and contract under the influence of iieat. It is 

 seldom, however, that the foot is so surrounded by tiie litter, that its heat 

 will be sufliciently increased to produce this effect on the thick horn. The 

 heels, sometimes embedded in straw, and then receiving the current of cold 

 air, which blows in from the door, may suffer, and grease may result, but 

 the foot is not sufficiently long or deeply covered by the litter to produce a 

 temperature high enough to warp the hoof. We confess, therefore, that we 

 are not the disciples of those who would, during the day, remove all litter 

 from under the horse; we do not like the naked and uncomfortable 

 appearance of the stable; and vve cannot forget the difference in our own 

 feelings, whether we stand for an hour or two on the hard stones, or a soft 

 carpet, and especially whether we beat our feet upon the one or the other. 

 We are disposed to say that humanity and a proper care of the foot of the 

 horse should induce us to keep some litter under him during the day ; 

 but his feet need not sink so deeply in it that their temperature should be 

 much affected. 



Thrushes are much oftener the consequence than the cause of con- 

 traction. The horny frog, yielding to the pressure of the contracted quar- 

 ters, is diminished in size, and the lower portion of the fleshy frog becomes 

 imprisoned, irritated, and inflamed, and pus or matter is discharged at 

 the cleft; yet there are many heels in the last stage of contraction, which 

 are not thrushy. On the other hand, thrush never long existed, accom- 

 panied by much discharge, without producing a disposition to contraction; 

 therefore, thrush may be considered as both the cause and consequence of 

 contraction. 



The removal of the bars takes away a main impediment to contraction. 

 Their use in assisting the expansion of the foot has been already stated, and 

 should a disposition to contraction be produced by any other cause, the 

 cutting away of the bars would hasten and aggravate the evil; but the losf 

 of the bar would not of itself produce contraction. 



The contraction, however, which is connected with permanent lameness, 

 although increased by the circumstances which we have mentioned, usually 

 derives its origin from a diflerent source, and from one whicn acts violently 

 and suddenly. Inflammation of the little plates covering the coffin-bone 

 's the most usual cause; and a degree of inflammation not sufficiently 

 intense to be characterized as acute founder, but quickly leading to sad 

 results, may and does spring from causes almost unsuspected. There is 

 one fact to which we have alluded, and that cannot be doubted, that con- 

 iraction is exceedingly rare in the agricultural horse, but frequently occurs 



