SALT WATER — SAND CRACKS 



by the sea, as they consider it beneficial to the constitution, 

 as well as the development of bone and hair on the legs. 

 All marshland, however, affects the quality of the bone, which 

 becomes soft and spongy through the damp, and hence no 

 animals which are intended for fast work on hard roads 

 should be raised on it, though it may prove beneficial to 

 horses recovering from laminitis, or ailments which set up 

 fever in the feet. (See Rings on the Feet.) 



Salt Water. — In cases where the legs of a horse have 

 become worn from overwork, benefit is often derived from 

 walking them up and down in the sea for half an hour a 

 day, as the sinews become strengthened and the limbs 

 cooled. Many horses are extremely fond of drinking salt 

 water, which, taken in small quantities, may not be harmful, 

 but when a greedy animal is allowed to consume all that 

 he wants to, he is liable to blow himself out, and cause 

 internal inflammation and bladder troubles. 



Sand. — Fine sea-sand is used sometimes as a bedding 

 for horses when other and more preferable materials are not 

 procurable. By itself, however, sand is not a good thing 

 to allow a horse to lie upon, as not only may it get into 

 the eyes, but it penetrates the coat and causes unnecessary 

 trouble to the groom. A more serious possibility is that 

 some of it may be swallowed, in which case it may lead 

 to fatal results. When sand has to be used, therefore, a few 

 inches of it should be laid on the floor of the box or stall, 

 the drains having been previously stopped, and a layer of 

 straw spread on the top. (See Bedding.) 



Sand Cracks are fissures in the walls of the feet, which 

 usually appear at the inside quarter of the fore-foot or toe 

 of the hind one, extending downwards from the coronet. 

 They can cause a great deal of trouble if not taken 

 in time, for they are sure to increase in both length 

 and depth, and, of course, the horse will become lame. 

 Sand crack is the result of the horn of the hoof getting 



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