PRICK N THE SOLE OR CRUST. 303 



ihc animal, may have been irreparably injured or destroyed, or to save 

 these parts from the destructive etiect of torturing caustics. When anj- 

 portioii of the bone can be felt by the probe, the chances of success are 

 diminished, and the owner and operator should pause. When the joints 

 are exposed, the case is hopeless; yet, in a great many instances, the bones 

 and tne joints are exposed by the remedy and not by the disease. One hint 

 may not be necessary to the practitioner, but it may guide the determina- 

 tion and hopes of the owner: if, when a probe is introduced into the fistu- 

 lous orifice on the coronet, the direction of the sinuses or pipes is backward, 

 there is much probability that a perfect cure may be effected; but if the 

 direction of the sinuses be forward, the cure is at best doubtful. In ihe 

 first instance, tliere is neither bone nor joint to be injured ; in the other, the 

 more important parts of the foot are in danger, and the principal action and 

 concussion are found. 



Neglected bruises of the sole sometimes lay the foundation for quittor. 

 When the foot is flat, it is very liable to be bruised, if the horse is ridden 

 fast over a rough and stony road; or a small stone, insinuating itself 

 between the shoe and the sole, or clipped and confined by the curvature of 

 the shoe, will frequently lame the horse. The heat and tenderness of the 

 part, the occasional redness of the horn, and the absence of puncture, will 

 clearly mark the bruise. The sole must then be tliinned, and particularly 

 over the bruised part, and, in neglected cases, it must be pared even to the 

 quick, in order to ascertain whether the inflammation has run on to sup- 

 puration. Bleeding at tiie toe will be clearly indicated, poultices, and such 

 other means as have either been described under " InHammatioa of the 

 Feet," or will be pointed out under the next head. The principal causes of 

 bruises of the foot are leaving the sole too much exposed by means of a 

 narrow-webbed shoe, or the smith paring out the sole too closely, or the 

 pressure of the shoe on the sole, or the introduction of gravel or stones 

 between the shoe and the sole. 



PRICK OR WOUND IN THE SOLE OR CRUST. 



This is the most frequent cause of quittor. It is evident that the sole ii 

 very liable to be wounded by nails, pieces of glass, or even sharp flints, 

 but much more frequently the fleshy little plates are wounded by the nail 

 in shoeing; or, if the nail does not penetrate through the internal surfaca 

 of the crust, it is driven so close to it that it presses upon the fleshy parts 

 beneath, and causes irritation and inflammation, and at length ulceration. 

 When a horse becomes suddenly lame, after the legs have been carefully 

 examined, and no cause of lameness appears in them, the shoe should 

 be taken off. In many cases the offending substance will be immediately 

 detected, or the additional heat felt in some part of the foot will point out 

 the seat of injury; or, if the crust be rapped with the hammer all round, 

 the flinching of the horse will discover it ; or pressure with the pincers will 

 render it evident. 



When the shoe is removed for this examination, the smith should nevei 

 be permitted to wrench it off, but each nail should be drawn separately, 

 and examined as it is drawn, when some moisture appeai'ing upon it will 

 not unfrequently reveal the spot at which the matter has been thrown out. 

 In the fore-feet the injury will generally be found on the inner quarter, and 

 on the hind-feet near the toe, these being the thinnest parts of tie fore 

 and hmd-feet. 



Sudden lameness occurring within two or three days after the horse has 

 been shod will lead us to suspect that the smith has been in fault; yet no 



