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HORSE— DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 



the pressure of a nail near it, and 

 that the reduction is not carried up too 

 near to the coronet. In the hind foot 

 the quarter is fully half an inch thick, and 

 it therefore will bear reduction better 

 even than the fore foot. Sometimes the 

 blow is given by the shoe itself, which is 

 fixed on so as to overlap the crust, and 

 then the remedy is simple enough, for this 

 ought never to occur, and can easily be 

 prevented by any smith. But supposing, 

 in spite of these precautions, the cutting 

 still continues after the horse is restored 

 to his natural strength and flesh, can any- 

 thing be done by shoeing? In most 

 cases this question may be answered in 

 the affirmative, by the use of what is 

 called a feather-edged shoe, which will be 

 described under the head of shoeing. By 

 its aid the heels are both raised, not the 

 inner one only (which is entirely useless 

 and even prejudicial, for then the ground 

 surface of the shoe is not a true plane), 

 but both heels, the inner one being nar- 

 rower, and having no nail holes beyond 

 the two near the toe, so that there is no 

 danger of the web projecting; nor is 

 there any nail hole required, with the fear 

 of a clench rising, or of the crust being 

 weakened so as to prevent its being thin- 

 ned to a proper degree. By thus raising 

 the heels (in the hind foot especially), the 

 fetlock is less bent, and as in horses that 

 cut there is almost always a tendency in 

 their fetlock joints to bend inwards as 

 well as backwards, this diminution of the 

 angle will not only straighten the leg in a 

 forward direction, but it will also increase 

 the distance between the joints, which is 

 the object to be desired. In the fore foot 

 the obliquity in this direction is not so 

 frequent, and then the high heel will be 

 of no use ; indeed, it is only when the 

 toes are too much turned out that this 

 plan of shoeing the fore foot is ever suc- 

 cessful. When cutting occurs before, un- 

 less there is this turn out, it is better to 

 put the shoes on in a perfectly level man- 

 ner, and trust to the reduction of the 

 thickness of the quarter, and the absence 

 of the third nail. If, with these precau- 

 tions, the horse, when in good condition, 

 still strikes his fore legs, it will be better 

 to put up with the constant use of a boot. 

 Generally, however, if the inflammation 

 is first subdued, and the foot is shod in a 

 perfectly true and level manner, taking 



care to rasp away the particular part 

 which strikes the other leg, it will be 

 found that the cutting is avoided. 



Speedy cutting is more dangerous than 

 ordinary cutting, because the pain given 

 by the blow is generally more severe, and 

 is often so great that the horse falls as if 

 he were shot. On examining the leg of 

 a confirmed speedy cutter there is always 

 apparent a small scab or bruise on the in- 

 side of the cannon bone, immediately be- 

 low the knee; but in slight cases rest may 

 have been used to allow the skin to heal, 

 and then no mark may possibly be left. 

 A careful examination will, however, gen- 

 erally detect a small bare place, partially 

 concealed by the growth of the adjacent 

 hair. In bad cases the periosteum is 

 swollen, and there is a considerable en- 

 largement of the surface of the bone. In 

 the management of slight cases of this 

 kind of cutting the action should be ex- 

 amined while the hoof is covered with 

 chalk, and the latter should be treated in 

 the same way as already described. If, 

 however, this fails, as it generally does in 

 this form of cutting, there is no remedy 

 but to put on a regular speedy-cut boot, 

 in which there is a pad buckled on the 

 inside of the leg, and reaching from the 

 knee to the fetlock. It must be of this 

 length, because otherwise it cannot be 

 kept in its place, as the leg allows it to 

 slip down until it reaches the larger cir- 

 cumference presented by the joint. 

 Where there is pain and swelling, caused 

 by the contusion, it must be treated in the 

 ordinary way, by the application of cold 

 water and the tincture of arnica, a wine- 

 glassfull of the latter in two quarts of 

 water. 



Pricks in shoeing occur from the want 

 of skill in the smith, who drives the nail 

 too near the laminae, and sometimes even 

 absolutely wounds them. It may be that 

 the nail in its passage upwards is not 

 within an eighth of an inch of these del- 

 icate parts, and the horse may not have 

 flinched during the driving of it, but 

 when he is put to work the nail opposes 

 a hard, unyielding line to the soft parts, 

 inflammation is established, and possibly 

 even matter is formed which may end ini 

 quittor. When, on the day after shoe- 

 ing, a horse which was previously sound 

 goes lame, and the foot is hot to the 

 touch, it may generally be assumed that 



