CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 305 



at grass nearly twelve months, and to which case I 

 have before alluded. From so many years' adherence 

 to the indoor system, with all descriptions of horses 

 which have fallen to my lot, mine would have been 

 the stables which many persons would look to for 

 this destructive disease ; whereas it does not produce 

 one single instance. I was early in life nearly per- 

 suaded that unctuous applications were injurious to 

 hoofs ; but my experience soon gave me proof to 

 the contrary. 



Sand-crack may appear in either the fore or the 

 hind feet, and be partial or complete. 



In the former case the superficial horny tubes of 

 the hoof wall are merely split across, whereas in 

 complete sand-crack the fissure or crack penetrates 

 throughout the thickness of the wall. 



Sand-crack always begins at the top of the hoof, 

 gradually extending in a downward direction. The 

 simplest form of such cracks (spurious sand-cracks) 

 very often begin at the lower edge of the wall in the 

 fore feet, but they are not of much significance. 



The wall of the hoof is thinnest towards the 

 quarters, and it is here that sand-crack generally shows 

 itself in the fore foot or feet. In the hind feet it is 

 usually situated at the toe. There are, however, 

 numerous exceptions. Sometimes it causes lame- 

 ness, constituting unsoundness. 



SPAVINS 



I have possessed several hunters with what are 

 called blood-spavins (a preternatural expansion of the 

 u 



