TOE SANDCRACK. 479 



should run some risk of their disapprobation, and our own repu- 

 tation as well, were we to talk about laying a horse up for so 

 " trifling" an accident. Nay, some horses, with non-penetrant 

 sandcracks, or with sandcracks that have been penetrant but 

 have become horned over, shewing little or no lameness, con- 

 tinue to work on without^ at all events for some time if not for 

 always, evincing any pain or inconvenience from them. 

 Whether a horse be lame or not, however, should he have a 

 sandcrack and we be consulted about it, it becomes our duty to 

 arrest the extension of the crack so long as it be but partial ; 

 and, besides that, to take measures for the " cure" or permanent 

 removal of such crack. The owner of the horse should be 

 given to understand, that no flaw or crack in the hoof can by 

 possibility unite the same as a wound in a vital part does ; 

 but must, as the saying is, " grow down," i. e. must be re- 

 placed by new horn, and be itself by degrees removed, as it 

 continues to come under the operation of the drawing knife 

 every time the horse is fresh shod. So that, in point of fact, 

 the " cure" or obliteration of sandcrack is necessarily a work of 

 some months; though the removal of the lameness consequent 

 on it may possibly be accomplished in as many hours or days. 



Paring out the Crack, the shoe being taken off the foot, 

 is the first thing to be done. The cutting cautiously away of 

 its rugged edges, and the scooping out with a light hand — pro- 

 bably with the back of the drawing knife — of its cavity, will 

 enable us to examine into the condition of it. Should there be 

 no lesion or exposure of the laminae detectible, nothing further 

 will be needed from the drawing knife than the cleaning out of 

 the crack. 



Firing the Crack is the next operation. Cross-firing will 

 be advisable below or above, or in both situations, according to 

 circumstances. So long as the crack has not reached to the 

 bottom of the wall, it will be requisite, with an ordinary firing 

 iron at a red heat, to burn a deep but short fissure -or " mark" 

 across its lower extremity ; and whether a similar operation be 

 required across the superior termination of the crack must de- 

 pend upon its extension or not through the horn at the coronet. 



