354 THE MODERN HORSE DOCTOR. 



CONTRACTION OF THE HOOF. — {Hoof Bound.) 



Some of the causes of contraction have already been alluded to. 

 (See Quarter Crack.) The prevalent custom of cutting away the 

 bars — which ordinarily support the heels, and prevent their ap- 

 proximation — may be considered, among others, as directly op- 

 erative in producing this deformity, which, in some cases, may be 

 considered in the light of local atrophy — diminished nutrition. 

 Diminished nutrition generally results from disorder in the diges- 

 tive organs, so that contraction of the hoof and indigestion may 

 coexist ; although many physicians deny the coexistence of dis- 

 ease. Contraction of this kind is not apt to occasion lameness, 

 because there is a very low grade of vital action in the parts. 

 But contraction is now and then the result of deep-seated disease 

 within the hoof — navicularthritis and laminitis, for example; 

 the animal is then dead lame while the inflammatory diathesis 

 lasts. 



Treatment. — Contraction associated with inflammatory action 

 of the tissues or cartilages of the foot must be treated in the same 

 manner as recommended for laminitis : in all cases we must 

 endeavor to give the frog a bearing on the ground ; and in order 

 to do this the shoe ought to be removed. A dry, brittle, and con- 

 tracted hoof may be improved by repeated poulticing with soft 

 soap and rye meal, applied cold. So soon as the hoof softens, let 

 it be dressed, night and morning, with turpentine, linseed oil, and 

 powdered charcoal, equal parts. Yet, after all, a run at grass in 

 a soft pasture, the animal having nothing more than tips on his 

 feet, is the best treatment. A very popular notion exists, that 

 cow manure has a wonderful effect on a contracted hoof; but it is 

 the candid opinion of the author, and no doubt the reader will 

 coincide, that filth and dirt of every kind are unfavorable to 

 healthy action. Such remedy, aside from its objection on the 

 score of decency, savors too much of by-gone days, when live eels 

 were sent on an errand down horse's throats to unravel their 

 intestines. If any benefit belongs to such an objectionable appli- 

 cation, it is due to the property it possesses of retaining moisture; 

 therefore cold poultices and water are far superior. Clay and 

 moist earth, placed in the stall for the horse to stand on, are far 



