CHAPTER IX. 



DISEASES OF THE FEET. 



Removing pressure means triiinniiio: the bearing surfaces of 

 the foot in such a -way that the shoe can not cause pressure 

 upon diseased structures. 



CORXS. 



A corn is the result of bruising the sensitive sole or sensitive 

 lamina^ of the quarters or bars and appears as a reddish spot 

 in the angle formed b}^ the Avail and bar, usually on the inside 

 of the front feet, seldom if ever in the hind feet. 



Causes. — A rapid gait on hard roads; lowering one quarter 

 more than the other ; shoes so fitted that the}' press on the sole 

 at the heel, and shoes left on so long that the wall overgrows 

 the heels of the shoe and causes the shoe to press on the sole; 

 long feet, Avhich remove the frog too far from the ground, thus 

 IDreventing the proper expansion of the foot. 



Treatment. — First, remove the cause by taking off the shoe ; 

 shorten the toe, lower the quarter that is too high, or correct 

 an}^ faults that may have existed in the preparation of the foot. 



If the corn is a suppurating one, the shoe must be left off, 

 the loose horn removed, and the foot placed in a hot flaxseed 

 poultice for several days. The poultice is changed when it 

 becomes cold, and the parts are washed out with a solution 

 of creolin, 1 to 25. When all suppuration has stopped, plug 

 the corn with oakum or tar and shoe with a bar shoe, removing 

 all pressure from the affected quarter. The special function 

 of the bar shoe is to produce frog pressure. The three-quarter 

 shoe may also be used. This shoe will prevent pressure on the 

 diseased spot, but it has a tendency to give a rocking motion 

 to the foot in action. 



THRUSH. 



Thrush is a diseased condition of the frog, characterized by 

 a dark-colored discharge of offensive odor. 



Causes. — Uncleanness ; horses standing in stalls saturated 

 with urine, or in wet earth filled Avitli decomposing vegetable 

 matter. 



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