SPEEDY-CUT. 463 



the shoe of the hind foot. This accident may occur from either 

 the inner or outer side of the toe of the shoe striking the coronet. 



A tread is a wound on the coronet produced by the shoe of 

 either hind or fore foot upon the coronet of the opposite leg. 



A speedy-cut is a contusion on the fore leg, either above or 

 below the knee-joint. Horses subject to this fault should be shod 

 very carefully, the shoe smoothly filed on the inner side, and the 

 clinchers carefully attended to. I have sometimes seen horses 

 that required to have their shoes removed, and their feet short- 

 ened, at least every three weeks, on this account. Speedy-cut 

 is liable to cause a dangerous accident, the horse suddenly falling 

 from the violence of the pain, endangering the life of the rider, 

 and breaking his own knees. On this account speedy-cut, if it 

 cannot be prevented by shoeing, may with propriety be con- 

 sidered an unsoundness. 



Brushing or cutting is caused by the shoe of one foot striking 

 against the fetlock. Generally it is the hind limbs which suffer, 

 but not always. Young horses out of condition often do this 

 when they are tired and exhausted. They must be shod with 

 preventive shoes. In some cases it is necessary to apply shoes 

 thicker on the inner than on the outside, nailed round the toe 

 and outside only. But shoes thick on the inside are to be used 

 as seldom a? possible, and a three-quarter shoe, or one thin on the 

 inside, without a heel on the outside, is to be tried in preference, 

 and for the reason that when a horse strikes the fetlock with a 

 thick shoe the blow is given with such force as to induce inflam- 

 mation and permanent thickening of the joint, with a greater 

 liability to cutting than before. When horses have been sharp- 

 ened during a frost they are very apt to tread themselves, and 

 sometimes very severely, causing ex^treme lameness. 



WOUNDS OF THE ABDOMINAL PARTETES, 



On account of the structures which they involve, and the danger 

 of intestinal protrusion, require a speciality of management, more 

 particularly when situated in the inferior portion of the abdomi- 

 nal walls. 



1st. Shallow punctures, involving the muscles, but not pene- 

 trating through the whole thickness of the floor of the belly, are 

 very apt to cause multiple abscesses. The pus formed in the 



