174 MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY. 



Should lameness occur within two or three days after the 

 horse has been shod, the first suspicion should fall upon the 

 foot. The best of smiths may prick the foot in shoeing, 

 and he that acts honestly in such a case, by at once 

 acknowledging it, or informing the owner, will not deserve 

 blame. It is in concealing or denying the possibility of 

 the thing that causes all the mischief. Because, whenever 

 it is discovered, the shoe should be taken off, and that 

 too with much care. Some foolish smiths are in the habit 

 of wrenching off shoes, a practice which, under any circum- 

 stances, cannot be too severely condemned. 



Remedies. — As soon as the injured part is detected, the 

 sole should be well thinned down around it, and at the 

 punctured spot it should be pared to the quick. "We are 

 speaking of one of some days' standing, in which case 

 matter will issue from it, and the sore will be thereby 

 relieved. If the wound is quite fresh, then all that will 

 be necessary after thinning the hoof is to apply a pledget 

 with some Friar's balsam to it ; or fill the wound with 

 bees'-wax, and it will quickly heal if kept clean. If, how- 

 ever, it does not heal speedily, and it becomes hot, then 

 inflammation will have taken place, and therefore it will 

 be necessary to apply a poultice. 



But in wounds of the foot much depends upon the par- 

 ticular part which has been injured. Although a pretty 

 deep wound is inflicted towards the back part of the sole, 

 and even extending into the frog, still it may not be 

 attended with much danger or inconvenience to the animal, 

 because there is no motion in that portion of the foot, and 

 there are besides no bones or tendons to be injured. Neither 

 is much harm to be apprehended from a prick near the toe. 

 But in the centre of the sole, where the flexor tendons pass 

 over, especially where the tendon is inserted into the coffin- 



