78 SHOEING. 



In all foot ailments, whenever a horse is lame, al- 

 though the disease may not apparently be in the foot, 

 let the shoe first be carefully removed, and the shoeless 

 foot examined by as competent a farrier as can be pro- 

 cured (in the absence of a veterinary surgeon), by pin- 

 cers round the nail-holes, gently pressing wall and sole 

 together, by the hammer tapping the sole, and a judici- 

 ous use of the drawing-knife, to detect the possible seat 

 of disease. 



I have known a lame horse to be brought to a reput- 

 edly-experienced amateur horse-doctor, the cause of dis- 

 ease being so evidently inflammation of the sheath of 

 the tendon, that the animal was ordered to be treated 

 accordingly — viz., with cold applications ; and this not 

 succeeding, firing the leg was resorted to, after which, 

 the weather being suitable, it was thought expedient to 

 let the beast have a run at grass. As a preliminary 

 the shoes were removed, in the course of which opera- 

 tion a bed of gravel was found to have secreted itself 

 in the foot of the supposed diseased leg, and the in- 

 flammation occasioned by the gravel having gone up, 

 caused what appeared to be marked disease about the 

 tendon. 



Such were the results of neglecting the precautions 

 here recommended. 



Brushing, or cutting, is a very tormenting weakness 

 in the horse, whether behind or before, and often highly 

 dangerous in the latter case. 



The ordinary practice of farriers under such circum- 

 stances is to rasp away the inside quarter of the offend- 

 ing hoof, as well as doubly thickening the shoe under 

 the weakened wall, leaving the toe to extend itself 

 forward. This is a great mistake, yielding only a tern- 



