CHAPTER IX. 



Hoof Bound. 



AMien that part of the wall around and under 

 the coronet is drawn in and the heels are nar- 

 row, the frog pinched in so tightly it can hardly 

 be seen, the lateral cartilages forced upward 

 and the foot is hot and dry, "they" will tell you 

 that he is "hoof-bound" and "has been that way 

 since he was a colt because his feet did not 

 grow fast enough," etc., etc. It sounds silly, 

 but still there is a lot of truth in the statement 

 When the colt is brought in from the pasture 

 his feet are hard and dry (not all colts — the 

 one we are discussing is enough). And before 

 they are softened and allowed to expand and 

 get some life into them, shoes are put on and 

 he is put to work. AVhether that w^ork is draw- 

 ing a sulky or a coal wagon, does not matter ; 

 his feet were "tied up" in the shoes when they 

 were in a practically crippled condition, and 

 as long as the shoe stays on and the man in 

 charge does not know or care, why, the horse 

 goes along in a stifif, jerky sort of way, stumb- 

 ling occasionally, coming out in the morning 

 stiff and sore and hollow-eyed, there w^ill be no 

 relief. By and by we w411 see him perhaps five 

 or six or seven years of age, but with a foot the 

 size of a two-year-old's," because "it didn't 

 grow fast enough when he was a colt." 



This is a case that requires heroic treatment. 

 Here is a foot that needs dissecting and needs 

 it badly. But before you begin the operation, 

 soak the feet, poultice them, do anything that 

 will soften them. Then pare the sole as thin 



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