loi SCIENTIFIC HORSESHOEING. 



tender footed, and if not at once remedied, the trouble will in 

 time become aggravated. In a word, any improper manage- 

 ment of tlie foot tending to produce an unnatural compression 

 of the insensitive and sensitive laminae, thereby destroying or 

 preventing the action of the secretive powers, will cause the 

 formation of a spur, large or small, which, if not attended to, 

 will in the end develop to the great injury of the foot and the 

 horse. I have in my possession many specimens of hoofs in 

 which spurs are present, and an examination of them will show 

 conclusively the cause of the spur in each case. 



Diagnosis for spur in the toe, and its causes, will show the 

 horse to be restless on his front feet, stretching or pointing first 

 one foot forward, then the other, and this action always in- 

 dicates trouble of some kind in the front part or toe of the 

 foot. If a decayed, pithy, horny substance, as shown in Figs. 

 48 and 50, be i'ound, it should be probed and cut out as deeply 

 as safety will admit, being careful not to draw blood. Fill the 

 cavity with my foot salve, prescribed in the latter part of this 

 book. Finally apply a shoe suitable for flat feet, care being 

 taken to keep the pressure off the toe, as elsewhere shown. If 

 for a draught horse, use shoe, Fig. 35. Dress the foot to make 

 it conform as near as possible to Fig. 23, and follow the direc- 

 tions given for that purpose. It will be found impossible to 

 straighten the foot at once, as the new growth proceeds slowly 

 from the coronet. File or rasp the outside crust in front from 

 coronet to ground surface, as that will tend to release the in- 

 ternal structures from pressure. Apply hot-water bandages 

 around the coronet, for the purpose of stimulating a new 

 growth. 



Contraction is almost always the result of improper shoeing 

 and mismanagement of the foot, primarily due to overgrowth of 

 the hoof at toe and heels. At times the shoes remain on too 



