348 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



u In their recent state corns generally cause some degree of 

 tenderness, though not amounting to actual lameness. If not 

 attended to at this period, the horse soon becomes lame ; and 

 when the shoe is removed for examination, the horny matter in 

 the part described will be found, upon scraping off the exterior 

 surface, of a dark-red color, to a greater or less extent, accord- 

 ing to the length of time it has existed, or rather to the degree 

 of injury the sensible parts have sustained. If the shoe be not 

 removed at this stage of the disease, which sometimes happens 

 from a supposition that the lameness arises from some other 

 cause, its continued pressure on the tender part, or corn, will at 

 length cause matter to form, which, finding no vent beneath, as- 

 cends to the coronet, where it breaks out. Even this is sometimes, 

 mistaken for a tread, or blow from the other foot, while the real 

 cause is lost sight of. In the treatment of corns in their recent 

 state, or before suppuration has taken place, the method gener- 

 ally adopted is to pare out the red part, or what is termed the 

 corn, and so contrive the shoe that, when applied to the foot, it 

 may have no bearing on the tender part. This, in slight cases, 

 generally affords temporary relief, and enables the horse to go 

 to work again : in a short time, however, the horse's weight 

 causes the shoe again to rest upon the heel, and the inflamma- 

 tion and lameness of course return. The only effectual mode of 

 taking off pressure from the heel is by means of the bar shoe ; 

 and this can only be applied where the frog is sufficiently promi- 

 nent and firm to receive its pressure. For should the frog be 

 considerably lower than the heels, (that is, supposing the foot to 

 be taken up, and its bottom part held upward,) it must be obvi- 

 ous that the bar shoe cannot bear upon it, and will therefore be 

 useless. The only thing to be done in this case is to pare away 

 the crust of the tender heel, so that the heel of a common shoe 

 may not rest upon it. I am aware that the original cause of 

 corns is often a natural weakness of the inner heel, or a want of 

 sufficient strength in the horn to protect the sensible parts from 

 the pressure of the shoe. It is from this consideration, perhaps, 

 that Mr. Budd observes, 'We have frequently seen the plan of 

 cutting away the horn (in corns) followed with avidity, on ac- 

 count of the temporary relief it affords ; such a plan, however, 



