312 



CTCLOrJ£DIA OF LIVE STOCK AND COMPI^TE STOCK DOCTOR. 



V. Care of the Feet in the Stable. 



A PLAIN SHOE. 



With large, sharp-headed nai 

 winter use. 



Care of the feet in the stable has a great 

 influence on their health. Horses that are 

 kept on floors and pavements continually, 

 and even country horses in dry weath- 

 er, should have the feet either soaked 

 out in a foot bath or clay puddle, or 

 packed with moist sponge or oil-cake meal 

 two or three times a week. If it is not done, 

 they dry and contract from want of moisture, 

 get brittle, and have sand and quarter cracks, 

 and lose nearly all toughness. When the hoof 

 is brittle and inclined to crack, in addition to 

 the above, a hoof ointment, made and ap- 

 plied as follows is beneficial : 



No. 8. 



4 Fluid ounces pine tar, 

 4 Fluid ounces whale oil, 

 Mix. 



Rub a little well into the coronet and upper part of the hoof once a aay, 

 If the ointment gets too thin in warm weather, a couple of ounces of mut- 

 ton tallow may be added to give it a better consistency. 



VT. The Floor of the Stall. 



Confinement to the stable, even under the most favorable circumstan- 

 ces, has a tendency to produce diseases of the feet, such as are compara- 

 tively rare among farm horses which enjoy constant exercise at work or 

 running in the pasture. The anatomy of the 

 horse's foot is such that exercise is absolutely 

 necessary to keep up the circulation of blood 

 under the hoof, and the bad effects of inaction are 

 only aggravated by requiring the animal to stand 

 on an unnecessarily hard surface. The confined 

 horse endeavors to supply the lack of outdoor 

 exercise by stamping and pawhig, and should have 

 a soft surface of eailh or sawdust to paw upon. 

 Pawing and stamping serve the specific purpose of 

 keeping the blood moving under the hoof ; crib-biting on the other hand 

 is often merely an exhibition of the restlessness an active animal 

 feels at being cooped up. 



VEINS OF THE HOUSE'S 

 FOOT. 



The network of veins without 

 valves situated immediately 

 under the secretive membrane 

 of the hoof. 



