H4 



HORSE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



inefficient horn; and without it, the 

 chance of a cure is not to be reckoned on. 



HORSE, Foot, Disease of.— In coun- 

 tries where the roads are hilly and rough, 

 this is a common trouble, and it is doubt- 

 less caused by disease of that part of the 

 foot which centers round the navicular 

 bone (a small bone in the center of the 

 foot), and is caused by constant and irri- 

 tating jars upon this highly sensitive part. 

 To the cutting of the frog and the removal 

 of that elastic cushion, provided by nature 

 for the protection of these delicate parts, 

 is due the prevalence of this disease, 

 which unfortunately is rarely curable. An 

 unerring symptom is the throwing for- 

 ward of the foot by the horse when in the 

 .stable, or pointing, as it is called, 

 mentioned as belonging to this case. 

 Absolute rest, with good feed, cooling 

 bandages to the leg, stuffing the hoof 

 with cow-dung, making a soft bed of wet 

 ■ clay for the fore-feet to rest in, and rub- 

 , bing the hoof with glycerine to soften and 

 cool the crust, are the best remedial 

 measures. It is a mistake to suppose the 

 horse's foot is a solid mass of horn ; if one 

 .is dissected, it will be found a very differ- 

 ent thing indeed, and it should be treated 

 accordingly. 



HORSE, Founder— (See Horse, Lam- 



•INITIS). 



HORSE, Seedy Toe.— This term is so 

 generally employed among horsemen, 

 that though the state which it describes 

 is one of the ordinary consequences of 

 laminitis, we prefer to give it a distinct 

 . section. We have already described its 

 nature in the preceding page, and have 

 • only now to allude to its treatment. This 

 imay generally be so conducted as to 

 '.restore the shape of the foot, if the inflam- 

 mation has not lowered the toe of the 

 pedal bone, as shown at fig. i ; for if this 

 has taken place, although it is perhaps 

 possible to get rid of the cavities in the 

 horn, the relative positions of the bony 

 parts cannot be changed. When, how- 

 ever, as is often the case, a moderately 

 rsmall hollow has been formed between 

 .the layers of the wall, and the foot retains 

 a tolerably healthy shape, by cutting 

 .away all the external horny walls, expos- 

 ing the parts in contact with the laminae, 

 jand resting the horse in a loose box, the 

 -secreting surface will form a new wall, 

 without any spongy texture, in the course 



of three or four months, if the coronary 

 band is constantly stimulated by external 

 applications. To effect this, the horse 

 should be put to stand on red deal saw- 

 dust, without shoes ; and his coronets, 

 after being gently stimulated by a mild 

 liquid blister, should be kept dressed with 

 tar ointment, which should also be applied 

 to the exterior of the horn. It is seldom, 

 however, that a foot which has been thus 

 treated is sufficiently sound to bear hard 

 work. 



HORSE, Navicular Disease. — This 

 formidable disease, called also the navicu- 

 lar joint lameness, and navicularthritis, is 

 the chief danger to be apprehended from 

 a good-looking strong foot, just as the 

 open flat one is prone to laminitis, and is 

 rarely subject to disease in the navicular 

 joint. The reason of this immunity on 

 the one hand, and the contrary on the 

 other, is this. The open foot, with a large 

 spongy frog, exposes the navicular bone 

 and the parts in contact with it to con- 

 stant pressure in the stable, so that these 

 parts are always prepared for work. On 

 the other hand, the concave sole and 

 well-formed frog are raised from the 

 ground by our unfortunate mode of shoe- 

 ing, and when the whole foot is exposed 

 to injury from battering, and, in addition, 

 the tendon which plays over the navicular 

 bone presses it against the os coronae, the 

 unprepared slate in which this part is 

 allowed to remain is sure to produce 

 inflammation, if the work is carried far 

 enough. Thus in each case the weak 

 part suffers; but occasionally, though very 

 rarely, the foot with an arched sole con- 

 tracts laminitis, and the flat one is attack- 

 ed by navicular disease ; the exceptions, 

 however, are so few that they may be 

 thrown out of the calculation, and from 

 the shape of the foot alone it may almost 

 invariably be pronounced, when a horse 

 is known to be subject to chronic lame- 

 ness, whether its seat is in the laminae or 

 in the navicular joint. 



When a foot is examined after death 

 which is known to have been the subject 

 of navicular disease, the parts implicated 

 are invariably either the navicular bone, 

 or the soft parts in contact with it, or 

 often all together. Most frequently on 

 dividing the tendon of the flexor perforans, 

 and turning it down so as to expose the 

 back of the joint between the navicular 



