DISEASES OF HORSES. 721 



a short, stubby gait, or very high action, the latter causing the 

 feet to strike the ground too forcibly ; allowing the toes to 

 grow too long, or cutting the heels too much when shoeing ; or 

 any injury to the back part of the foot. 



SYMPTOMS. Lameness, in some cases sudden and severe, in 

 others gradual and slight, sometimes continuous, and sometimes 

 periodic. Sometimes an animal goes lame when first taken from 

 the stable, but soon goes sound when exercised. When the dis- 

 ease is firmly established, and in but one foot, the diseased foot 

 is rested in front of the sound one. If both are affected, he 

 throws the weight from one foot to the other, and when first 

 taken from the stable he goes with a kind of stilty action, and 

 from this action it has been called grogginess. The muscles of 

 the shoulder waste, and from this fact it is often called sweeny. 

 There is also contraction of the foot, which is easily seen if but 

 one foot is diseased. Pressure in the hollow of the heel against 

 the tendon causes pain. The foot is usually greatly worn at 

 the toe, and the front of the hoof is more rounded than 

 natural. 



TREATMENT. If it is severe and of long standing, it is in- 

 curable, but if recent and mild, a cure may be effected. Take 

 off the shoe, rasp down the toe and also the wall of the hoof, 

 and in some cases even thin the bottom of the hoof some ; then 

 use poultices or bathe well with water, or keep him standing 

 with the foot in water three or four hours a day, and when the 

 heat and pain seem better, blister around the top of the hoof 

 with the biniodide of mercury-blister. (See Blistering.) If it 

 is in the spring of the year when the ground is wet, turn the 

 animal on pasture. If remedies fail, and the horse becomes use- 

 less, the only relief then is to divide the nerves which give sen- 

 sation to the- foot; and as such an operation would require a 

 practical veterinary surgeon, it will not be described here. 



Corns. These are simply bruises caused by pressure from 

 the shoe. There are hard, soft, and suppurating corns, but 

 these are only different stages of the same disease. 



SYMPTOMS. More or less lameness ; and if only one foot is 

 affected it will be rested in front of the sound foot. If both 



