110 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



to contraction of the heels, or the whole hoof bends outward or in- 

 ward, and a crooked foot, or, even worse, a crooked leg, is the result 

 if the long hoof be allowed to exert its powerful and abnormally 

 directed leverage for but a few months upon young plastic bones and 

 tender and lax articular ligaments. All colts are not foaled with 

 straight legs, but failure to regulate the length and bearing of the 

 hoof may make a straight leg crooked and a crooked leg worse, just 

 as intelligent care during the growing period can greatly improve a 

 congenitally crooked limb. If breeders were more generally cogniz- 

 ant of the power of overgrown and unbalanced hoofs to divert the 

 lower bones of young legs from their proper direction, and, there- 

 fore, to cause them to be moved improperly with loss of speed and 

 often with injury to the limbs, we might hope to see fewer knock- 

 kneed, bow-legged, splay-footed, pigeon-toed, cow-hocked, interfer- 

 ing, and paddling horses. 



If in shortening the hoof one side-wall is, from ignorance, left 

 too long or cut down too low with relation to the other, the foot will 

 be unbalanced, and in traveling the long section will touch the 

 ground first and will continue to do so till it has been reduced to its 

 proper level (length) by the increased wear which will take place 

 at this point. While this occurs rapidly in unshod hoofs, the shoe 

 prevents wear of the hoof, though it is itself more rapidly worn away 

 beneath the high (long) side than elsewhere, so that by the time 

 the shoe is worn-out the tread of the shoe may be flat. If this mis- 

 take be repeated from month to month, the part of the wall left too 

 high will grow more rapidly than the low side whose pododerm is 

 relatively anemic as a result of the greater weight falling into this 

 half of the hoof, and the ultimate result will be a wry, or crooked 

 foot. 



Care of Unshod Hoofs. The colt should have abundant exer- 

 cise on dry ground. The hoofs will then wear gradually and it will 

 only be necessary from time to time to regulate any uneven wear 

 with the rasp and to round off the sharp edge about the toe in order 

 to prevent breaking away of the wall. 



Colts in the stable can not wear down their hoofs, so that every 

 four to six weeks they should be rasped down and the lower edge of 

 the wall well rounded to prevent chipping. The soles and clefts of 

 the frog should be picked out every few days and the entire hoof 

 washed clean. Plenty of clean straw litter should be provided. Hoofs 

 that are becoming awry should have the wall shortened in such a 

 manner as to straighten the foot-axis. This will ultimately pro- 

 duce a good hoof and will improve the position of the limb. 



Characteristics of a Healthy Hoof. A healthy hoof is equally 

 warm at all parts, and is not tender under pressure with the hands 

 or moderate compression with pincers. The coronet is soft and elastic 

 at all points and does not project beyond the surface of the wall. The 

 wall is straight from coronet to ground, so that a straightedge laid 

 against the wall from coronet to ground parallel to the direction of 

 the horn tubes will touch at every point. The wall should be cov- 



