Book VII. DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 919 



{Vet. Pharm. 5<S86. No. 1. or 2.) Moderate exercise should be continued, and the heels carefully cleaned 

 from dirt by soft soap and water on each return therefrom ; after which, always again apply the astringent. 



5847. Grease is nothing more than an aggravated state of the same affection, and is more common lo the 

 hind than to the fore legs. Coarse fleshy-legged horses are peculiarly prone to the affection, from the 

 great accumulation that takes place in their legs ; and from the difficulty that the capillaries find in carry, 

 ing the increased quantity of lymph upwards. In these, long stable confinement should be avoided, and 

 when that is impossible, it should be counteracted by exercise frequently and judiciously administered. 

 Many cart horses never go out but to work : they often work three days incessantly, or nearly so ; and 

 they perhaps rest two days entirely. Can it be wondered at, that the change occasions swelling, acting on 

 the weakness and exhaustion of previous fatigue? and could not this be avoided by turning out for an 

 hour ; or walking for half an hour night and morning ? Stable soiling should be used ; bleeding and 

 physicking also in very bad cases; and when the inflammation and irritation or soreness are great, the 

 poultices recommended for cracks, should be applied until these circumstances are removed; when 

 commence the use of some of the astringents recommended. {Vet. Pharm. 5886.) White has stated two 

 remarkable cases of grease cured by the application of corrosive sublimate, in the form of a wash, as oHivo 

 drachJHS of sublimate to ten ounces of water ; increasing it to three drachms, if the pain occasioned by the 



V first be not too considerable. Blaine says that the clivers or goose-grass has been known to be of great 

 service in bad cases of grease : half a pint of the expressed juice to be given daily as a drink ; and a poul- 

 tice of the herb to be applied to the heels. In some cases of long standing when the running has ceased, 

 a thickened state of the limb remains, which is best removed by firing, and which likewise is a preventive 

 to a return. 



SuBSECT. 9. Diseases of the Feet. 



5848. Founder of the feet is qf two kinds, an acute and a chronic. Acute founder is a disease that, until 

 lately, was less understood than almost any other. After a very severe day's work, or when very much 

 heated, if a horse get a sudden chill by standing in snow or cold water, it is not uncommon for him to be 

 seized with universal stiffness and every symptom of great fever. Such a horse is said to be body 

 foundered. By degrees, however, it is observed that the animal has an extreme disinclination to remain 

 on his feet ; from whence it will appear that the whole of them are affected. When the horse draws his 

 hind feet under him, his fore only are affected : and when he draws his fore feet under him, the hinder 

 feet are the seat of the complaint ; but which is seldom the case. On feeling the feet they will be found 

 intensely hot, and the pastern arteries will beat with great violence. After a few days, unless the disease 

 abate, a separation of the hoofs from the coronet takes place, and at last they fall entirely off 



5849. The treatment. At the commencement of the disease bleed largely, as well by the neck as from 

 the toe of each affected foot, by paring, until the blood flows freely. After which immerse each foot in 

 a goulard poultice, (5867.), give the fever powder or drink {Vet. Pharm. 5909. and 5910), litter up to the 

 belly ; and if amendment do not take place, renew the bleedings, and blister round the pasterns. 



5850. Chronic founder, contraction or fever in the feet. The artificial life that horses lead, subjects them to 

 many diseases ; one of the principal of which is that of contracted feet. Blaine considers a neglect of 

 sufficient paring of , hoof, the application of artificial heat from hot stables, and hotter litter, the depri- 

 vation of natural moisture, constitutional liability, and the existence of thrushes, as among the principal 

 causes of this evil. It is more common to blood horses than to others ; and he observes, that dark chestnuts 

 are of all others most prone to it The appearances of a contracted foot, as contrasted with a healthy 

 one, we have already displayed. (5751.) It is there shewn that the contracted hoof becomes longer, 

 higher, and narrower : the heels \fig. 621 a a) particularly are drawn in, and seem to screw the frog 

 between them, which becomes wasted and thrushy from this pressure. The hinder hoofs are seldom 

 affected 



5851. The treatment qf contraction in the feet. It is better to prevent, than to be under the necessity ol 

 attempting to cure the evil. Prevention may be practised by avoiding the acting causes. As soon as at 

 all suspected to he likely to occur, keep the hoofs pared low ; never suffer the horse to stand on litter, nor 

 allow the stable to be too hot, feed moderately, and never allow the horse to go without daily exercise ; 

 whatever increases the general fulness of habit, flies to the feet. Above all, keep the feet moist by means 

 of wet cloths tied loosely around the coronet, falling over the whole hoof, but not extendingbeyond the edge. 

 Then moisten repeatedly, and stop the feet (5918.) every night. When contraction has already taken place, 

 many plans have been recommended ; as jointed shoes by Coleman, Clark, and others ; but it is not found 

 that mechanical expansion in this way produces permanent benefit. The most effectual mode is to obvi- 

 ate all previous causes of contraction ; and then to thin the hoofs around the heels from each quarter so 

 thin as to be able to produce an impression by means of the thumb : in fact, to remove so much of the 

 born as is consistent with safety, from the coronet downwards. It is also prudent to put in a score or two 

 from above downwards, drawn a quarter of an inch deep on each side towards the front of the hoof; but 

 whether this be done or not, the front of the hoof should be rasped thin about an inch in width ; by which 

 means a hinge is formed, which operates most advantageously in opening the heels. After this is done, 

 tips should be put on, and the horse should be turned out to grass, where he should remain three months, 

 by which time the new formed heels will have reached the ground, and will bear a shoe. This process is 

 iuUy described by Blaine in his Veterinary Outlines, where a plate completely elucidates the operation, and 

 to which we would recommend the readei-. 



5852. The pumiced foot is a very common consequence of acute founder, in which the elasticity of the 

 lamine becoming destroyed, the support of the coffin bone is removed, and it rests wholly on the sole, 

 which it gradually sinks from a concave to a convex surface, drawing with it the front of the hoof inwards. 

 In weak, broad, heavy feet, this evil comes on sometimes without founder ; the treatment can be only pal- 

 liative, a wide webbed shoe exactly fitted to the foot, without at all pressing on it, prevents the lameness 

 consequent to the disease. A shoe exactly the contrary to this has been tried in some cases with benefit, 

 the form of which has been one with a web so narrow as only to cover the crust, but so thick as to remove 

 the feet from accidental pressure. In other cases, no ^shoe answers so well as a strong bar shoe. 

 (5932. ) 



5853. Corns are most troublesome ailments, to which horses arc very liable, and which injure and ruin 

 thousands ; they are wholly accidental ; no horse having any peculiar tendency to them, but being al- 

 ways brought on them by some improper pressure, usually of the shoe, or from something getting in be- 

 tween the shoe and the horny heel. A siioe too long worn is a very common cause, and a still more 

 frequent one is the clubbing the heels of the shoe ; neither is it necessary to the production of corns, that 

 the shoe itself should press on the sole ; but they are equally produced when the outer horn of the heels 

 or of the bars, is the immediate offending part, rendered so by too luxuriant growth, by unequal wear, or 

 bv secondary pressure from the shoe, or by gravel working in. (fig. 621). It is the fleshy sole itself that is 

 bruised, from which, a speck of extravasated blood follows ; and if not immediately relieved, it gathers, 

 or the part becomes habitually defective, and instead of forming healthy horn, it always afterwards forms 

 a spongy substance of extreme sensibility, and thus always is liable to produce pain and lameness when 

 exposed to pressure. , . . ^ . . 



5854. The treatment of corns is seldom difficult or unsuccessful at their first appearance, but afterwards, 

 it can be only palliative. Blaine directs that by means of a fine drawing knife, every portion of diseased 

 horn should be pared awav, and the extravasation underneath likewise. Having done this, he advises to 

 introduce some butter of dittimony into the opening, to place over tiiis some tow, Which should be kept in 

 its place by means of a splint, if anv contraction of the heels {fig. 621 a a) be present, it will materially assist 



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