38 SCIENTIFIC lIUliSESnOEING. 



CHAPTER III. 

 THE FOOT OK THE HORSE. 



LOCOMOTORY APPARATUS. 



The Subject Defined. — The f)])joct of this c-huptor is to 

 pass in coneiso review, tlie oriraiis or apjtaratus eont loHiiii;- or 

 Tiiinisteriiiir to ihi' I'uiK'tioii ot" locomotion in the horse, certainly 

 one ot" the most imitortant in the econi)rnv of the animal, bv the 

 necessary co-operation it affords tlie other organs ami ayijjara- 

 tuses in the iierformance ot" their natural properties and l"nnc- 

 tions, and similarly one of primary importance in a]>proacli- 

 ing the study of its conditions in health and disease. For 

 these reasons, tlien, a clear understanding of the foot in general 

 is ai)Solutely essential to every horseman and farrier, if they 

 would ].rotit by its harmonious action and acquire practical 

 working ideas of the relation of its parts and the mode of their 

 co-operation, to be remembered, applied and utilized. 



Motion in General. — The locomotory aj^taratus is com- 

 posed of two kinds or systems of organs — the bones and mus- 

 cles. The bones are the hard, passive portions, with joints and 

 movable articulating surfaces providing for the necessary play 

 in their rehitive positions. The muscles, grouped around the 

 bones, are the active portions of the movement — the motor 

 engines of the limbs, in fact — being firmly attached to the bones 

 at certain determinate points, either directly or by tendons, 

 which contract upon the organs to be moved, and produce the 

 different postures and various gaits of the living animal. 



