HORSE— CARE AND MANAGEMENT. 



57 



fully dressed again. If treatment is com- 

 menced early, a fair degree of expecta- 

 tion of recovery may be entertained ; but, 

 in many cases, through neglect or lack of 

 proper treatment, a permanent deficiency, 

 of the hoof remains. In such cases, by 

 the use of a bar-shoe, properly adjusted, 

 ihe animal may be made of some use. 



HORSE, FOOT, Contraction of.— Con- 

 traction of the horn of the foot is a fre- 

 quent cause of lameness. This may oc- 

 cur at some part of the coronary border, 

 or may be in the quarters, or may be 

 confined to the heels; the last being, 

 perhaps, its most frequent locality. , Con- 

 traction at the coronary border produces 

 lameness mainly by pressure on the ex- 

 tensor tendon. Movement produces 

 irritation and consequent pain, which is 

 shown when the animal is at rest by his 

 putting the foot forward. This position 

 relieves the pressure upon the tendon, 

 and gives partial relief from pain. Con- 

 traction at the quarters and heels may 

 not always cause lameness. If the con- 

 dition comes on very gradually, changes 

 of the contained parts may so accom- 

 pany it that little if any lameness will be 

 caused simply by the contraction. Again, 

 the contraction may be the consequence 

 of other disease, and the result of a par- 

 tial cure and a previous lameness les- 

 sened. Contraction may result from 

 chronic founder or fever of the feet. It 

 may be produced by long-continued sta- 

 bling upon a dry plank floor. Thrushes 

 may so demoralize the floor of the foot 

 as to cause contraction. Too great and 

 constant paring away the bars of the foot, 

 may destroy their resistance to the ap- 

 proach of the heels, so the paring of the 

 frog may destroy the function of that or- 

 gan as an elastic spring to keep the heels 

 open. The degree of lameness that fol- 

 lows the change of form produced by 

 these, causes is not so great as when it 

 results from inflammation of the elastic 

 portions of the foot. The changes are 

 more rapid, and pressure is made upon 

 the sensitive portions of the foot. The 

 horse indicates the amount of pain he 

 suffers by the peculiar short and quick 

 character of his step, and the gentle and 

 light manner in which he places his feet 

 upon the ground. When not in motion, 

 he rests his feet forward, and is continu- 

 ally changing them. Contraction is apt 



to be seen most frequently in highly bred 

 horses with a naturally high and narrow 

 foot. This is one of the causes of lame- 

 ness in which the advice and probably 

 the treatment of an educated veterinary 

 surgeon are important. No definite di- 

 rections for treatment can be given. 



There are several other forms of the 

 disease in the foot, but they are either so 

 slight or so rare, or so little amenable to 

 treatment, that we will not cumber this 

 article with them. In closing, we advise 

 that in all serious or doubtful cases of 

 lameness an educated veterinary surgeon 

 be called. If such a one is not obtaina- 

 ble, the advice of an educated physician 

 may aid in determining the locality and 

 cause of disease. This known, treat the 

 case according to the suggestions of this 

 article. 



HORSE, Shoulder Lameness. — The 

 heads of the bones adjacent to most of 

 the joints of the body are more or less 

 subject to exostosis, though not so fre- 

 quently as those of the pastern bones 

 and tarsus. Next to these probably comes 

 the shoulder joint, the neighborhood of 

 which is often the seed of this disease, 

 but the treatment should be on the same 

 principle as for spavin, omitting the sub- 

 cutaneous scarification, which is not here 

 practicable on account of the nature of 

 the joint. Blisters, and especially with 

 the biniodide of mercury, will be the 

 most likely to succeed, but in most cases 

 the cure will be only partial. 



HORSE, Fistula of the Withers.— When 

 a saddle has been allowed to press upon 

 the spinous processes of the dorsal ver- 

 tebrae, it produces inflammation, which, 

 if neglected, leads to the formation of an 

 abscess. But the situation of the part is 

 such that the matter cannot escape, even 

 if the skin over the points of the bones is 

 perforated, and it has a tendency, by the 

 force of gravity, to burrow down among 

 the muscles which connect the shoulder- 

 blade with the trunk. The consequence 

 is, that there is extensive inflammation, 

 and often lameness of the shoulder, 

 which could readily have been prevented 

 by using proper care before the mischief 

 was done, or removed by the adoption of 

 suitable treatment afterwards before the 

 disease is confirmed. 



The symptoms in the early stage (that 

 is, before a fistula is established) are 



