CARE OF THE FEET 55 



grass for a rest. But beyond the application 

 of good shoes by an experienced man, your 

 work about your horse's feet is only : keep 

 clean, absolutely clean, and get dry, abso- 

 lutely dry, before you leave him in his stable. 

 Leaving a horse's heels imperfectly dried is 

 the cause of cracked heels. I dismiss my 

 groom if the horse gets cracked heels. I do 

 not believe in washing the feet too often 

 When I agree to it, I always put a littk 

 Eukotas, or permanganate of potash, in the 

 water, as both these tend to soothe, and 

 afterwards to harden, the skin. When per- 

 fectly clean and dry, I always have the feet 

 stopped with " Leucoid," a putty-like prep- 

 aration which keeps them aseptic and in 

 health. When I began to study horses, cow- 

 dung was always used for this purpose. It 

 is still the resort of the insanitary, and only 

 shows into what ignorant hands the care of 

 the poor horse has fallen. 



Now as to saddle-galls. These are always 

 caused by carelessly-fitted saddles, or by 

 saddles which have spread and lost their shape. 



