CHAPTER I. 



The Treatment of the Colt's Feet Before 



Shoeing. 



The care of the colt's feet should begin when 

 he is but a few weeks old. His troubles begin 

 as soon as he is foaled. Usually when he 

 first essays to stand he has to ''prop" himself 

 to keep from falling. AVith his feet and legs 

 spread wide apart, front toes turned out and 

 his shoulder blades twisted back against his 

 little body, he sways and totters while suckling 

 his dam. If he is a large foal and his dam is 

 of the low, blocky type, it makes matters 

 worse, for right there is being laid the founda- 

 tion for a first-class knee-hitter. 



The weight, as he stands, is on the inside 

 lateral quarters of his front feet; the delicate 

 wall is forced under and upward, causing the 

 foot to grow out of line — more to the outside 

 of the center of the column of bones than to 

 the inside; the toe of the foot points out, the 

 shoulder blades point in toward the body in- 

 stead of on a line with it, and gradually as the 

 colt grows larger and heavier, the front legs 

 begin to curve slightly inward at the knees. 

 If something is not done at this time, while 

 the bones, ligaments, muscles and cartilages 

 are in a pliable condition, to remedy the grow- 

 ing malformation of the youngster's feet and 



