A wise precautionary measure is to put on a 

 bar shoe and a thin aluminum pad or plate, and 

 fill the foot full of loose oakum with borax 

 sprinkled through it, being careful that the foot 

 is not packed full enough to cause pressure on 

 the tender frog. Do not allow any water or 

 oils of any kind to get in under the pad, and 

 remove it and repack every few days. When 

 the frog has grown sufficiently strong and elas- 

 tic to take care of itself the aluminum pad can 

 be removed. If the heels show signs of con- 

 tracting, put in a pair of springs w^hen you put 

 on the aluminum pad, and remove when you 

 think the frog is sufficiently grown to keep 

 them expanded. It is a mistaken idea that a 

 horse suffering from thrush should be laid up 

 or thrown out of training or turned out. If 

 you turn a horse with a case of thrush out on 

 dry pasture before 3^ou have given him thor- 

 ough treatment for it, he will come up later in 

 the season with feet as hard and dry as ivory, 

 his heels contracted, and the disease more 

 deeply seated than ever. Thrush should be 

 treated promptly and intelligently. 



CHAPTER VII. 



Punctures. 



If a puncture is caused by a blunt stub or an 

 old-fashioned cut nail a portion of the sole will 

 be forced into the sensitive part of the foot. If 

 the injury is in the frog a piece of the frog may 

 be forced ahead of the nail, but the chances are 

 not so great as when the injury is in the sole, 

 the froir beino: more elastic and non-resisting. 



46 



