|2 HOOF, n'S SHAPE AND MARE. 



of nutriment for repairing wear and waste falling short, the horse becomef 



•«mmice-footi3d. The wall or crust is then lower; and as the bottom of 



Fi(T. 5. the foot grows convex, causing the ani- 



°" * ^ mal to slip about, so the front of the 



^ ? hoof (a — e) grows concave, the toe (e) 



^ ^.'--^'^ I almost turning upwards. Horses kept 



^■^ \ \ for heavy draught have short pastern 



y^ \ \ j bones, tlie small one entering the hoof at 



'^Z \ \ I the coronet (c) in early life, but after- 



/ \ c'\ \ I wards changes, as I say, to [a — d?) ; and 



^ / w — \ \ \ I this new inclination, it will be seen, 



'/^s,^^ y^\^>^ \\ \ I must depress the bone, as the animal 



/ />^\^^S. V-. \ « acquires the sort of hoof called pom- 



/ yx^^^^^\ V *• • '-'i^'C-footed, and causes a constant strain- 



^,Cy//\^^^^^^m\ \-.. \ ! ing upon the coronet ; hence, the crip- 



///^^^^^^^\^^>0<- \ i pling, insecure gait, horses of this de- 



/ / ( ^^^^^^^^^^^^^V<:.\ I scriplion acquire, even before they get 



I \. 1 ^^^^^^s^^^^^^^J old ; and hence those numerous disor- 



^'— - V ^v ^ ^^"sS^Sii^ ^^ ^^ ^^^^ , ^j^j.^ j.^ which the feet are liable from 



'^ this one origin. 

 Contracted heels of this or any other species of horse, being destructive of 

 h.s capability of going, should be guarded against as much as any other in- 

 dividual misfortune to which he is liable: a disposition thereto constitutes suf- 

 ficient ground for rejection. When this is the case, the interval or cleft be- 

 tween the heels, at (d) in the annexed scale, is found to be more or less tender, 

 according to the progress of the disease ; the cleft will, in health, receive two 

 fingers lain in, the part having in it nothing unusual in the feel. Soon, how- 

 ever, the k.eat increases, the part hardens, and the cleft scarcely admits of a 

 small finger ; the horse flinches as if you touched a sore, and nothing but time 

 and proper treatment can restore him, if any thing can. Most commonly, 

 however, the disease proceeds until the clefts of the heels meet and become 

 rotten. Pressure upon the frog, is the certain preventive of contraction. See 

 " Foot." 



When the pastern-bones (great and small) rise one above the other too up- 

 rightly, the small one receives the whole concussion, and communicates th« 

 jar to every minute construction of the internal foot. See Foot, section o£ 

 The jarring of his pace is then very great, both to the horse and his rider. 

 Such horses arc very liable to go lame occasionally, but they recover by rest. 

 The ass and wild horse (poney) are thus formed ; but being hardy, and having 

 less blood and less weight of body to carry about, suffer less by it than the 

 horse. 



The just form or elevation of the hoof in front^ upon which mainly depends 

 its form behind, has been discussed by various writers, but remains yet awhile 

 uncertain and unsettled. Mr. B. Clarke judges 33 degrees of elevation from 

 the ground to be the best form of the hoof, and Mr. White quotes him with a 

 portion of approbation, but most unaccountably refers to his "plate iv," on 

 which an inscription tells us the lact is not so, but 45 degrees is the best pos- 

 sible elevation of the hoof: whilst those which are higher (/oicer he writes it, 

 or "33"), "approach too near the perpendicular;" the figure on the plate 

 itself differing with the diagram on the page of his book (305). 



My ideas, however, on this sul)ject are not so general; for 1 have found the 

 best form of the hoof differ, according to the shape of the two pasterns, as 

 :hey regard the hoof and each other; deeming that the best, in its particular 

 case, wliere the small one follows the same declination as the hoof, and the 

 large pastern ascends twenty d(^g\ees nearer to the upright, as before stated. 



