FOOT 



The Foot. 



statement is fully supported by the old saying, " No foot, 

 no horse," than which a more truthful maxim does not 

 exist. The external 

 parts of a foot are the 

 walls or crust — that 

 is, the outside horn, 

 which extends from 

 the coronet to the 

 ground— the sole, and 

 the frog ; whilst the 

 interior space con- 

 tains the navicular 

 bone in the back 

 higher part, and the 

 pedal or coffin bone, 

 so called from its sup- 

 posed resemblance in 

 shape to a coffin in 

 the lower front por- 

 tion. In addition to these there are the necessary cartilages, 

 tissues, and blood-vessels for connecting the bones and 

 keeping the organ nourished. It will be seen, therefore, 

 that a horse's feet are very delicate pieces of mechanism, as 

 they, and the fore ones in particular, sustain the whole weight 

 of the body, and hence their liability to suffer from the 

 effects of inflammation produced, amongst other things, by 

 concussion, laminitis, navicular disease, and bad shoeing. 

 (i-i heels, 2 frog, 3-3 bars, 4 sole, 5 toe, 6-6 quarters, 

 y-y-y wall.) 



The fore-feet are larger and rounder in shape than the 

 back ones, and should be of the same size, the outside 

 walls being rather sloping, and the sole, which is formed 

 of a softer, though tough, horn, rather arched ; whilst the 

 frog, which is a wedge-shaped, elastic cushion, is situated 

 at the back of the sole, with the thin end pointing towards 

 the toe. The bars of the foot are the ends of the wall at the 

 heels, which turn inwards parallel to the frog, and, like the 



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