THE HORSE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 



621 



The sense of hearing as well as of smell, seems to be more 

 acute in the horse than in man, and yet the horse is less liable 

 to deafness than man. 



The Foot. The structure of the foot is an object of 

 wonder, and is worthy of more attention than we can here give 

 it. It is so essential to the horse that we say, "No foot, no 

 horse." It is complicated in its mechanism and subject to 

 severe use, and for these reasons is liable to many diseases and 

 accidents. No other part of the animal is so liable to injury 

 from hard work or mismanagement. 



A reference to the following cut will show the parts en- 

 tering into the composition of the foot, and the fetlock and pas- 

 tern joint : 



A. Coffin or foot bone. 



B. Navicular or nut bone. 



C. Coronary or lower pastern bone. 



D. Upper pastern bone. 



E. One of the sesamoid bones. 



F. Cannon or shank bone. 



G. Horny frog. 

 H. Sensitive frog. 

 K. Sensitive sole. 



L. Horny or insensitive sole. 



M. Outer wall or crust. 



N. Laminated leaves or horny 



plates. 



O. Sensitive laminae. 

 ]'. P. Tendon of the extensor muscle 



of the foot and coronary bones. 

 K. R. Tendon of the flexor muscle 



of the coronary and foot bones. 



SECTION OF THE FOOT AND PASTERNS. 



It will be noticed there is very little space between the 

 navicular bone (b,) and the crust, which together with the sole 

 forming a case or shoe of horn for the protection of this deli- 

 cate arrangement. When inflammation arises here, from injury, 

 there is no room for swelling, and this causes most intense 

 pain, as well as rapid disorganization of the structure itself. 



