CHAPTER VIII. 



Quarter Cracks and Split Hoofs. 



A crack in the hoof is alwavs a difficult trouble for the 

 shoer to contend with unless he has had considerable expe- 

 rience in this direction. In this chapter is presented a va- 

 riety of methods of treatment both for quarter cracks and 

 split hoofs. 



To Cure Quarter Cracks- 

 Quarter cracks are longitudinal fissures in the hoof near 

 the heel. They are generally caused by improper shoeing* 

 or neglect of the foot, or b}^ allowing the horse to stand on 

 hard floors for a length of time, or by the overgrowth of the 

 crust, or when by the paring away of the frog, sole and bars, 

 the heel has been weakened, or by the burning of the feet 

 in shoeing, or the springing of the shoe at the heels which 

 then throws the weight of the horse on the wings or quar- 

 ter of the coffin bone and causes the hoof to become dry and 

 brittle. . 



All these things produce a disposition in the hoof to con- 

 tract and when this occurs at a time when it is dry and in- 

 flexible it results in lesion or splitting. 



In speedy horses where the heels are allowed to grow too 

 high, the crust loses its elastic toughness and becomes 

 hard and thickened and there is a liabilit}^ that the repeat- 

 ed shock of alighting on the heel while in violent action will 

 burst the quarters — the break occurring where the stress 

 falls heaviest, back of the heel or at one or both sides. 

 In paring a foot of this kind reduce the crust, especially 



