CONTRACTION OF THE HOOF. 27 5> 



DISEASES OF THE FEET AND LEGS. 



CONTRACTION OP THE HOOF. 



To horses that are kept in cities, or in stony sections of the 

 country, this disease is one of the most common occurrence. In 

 the middle and southern portions of New Jersey, 

 and Ohio, and in many other sections where the 

 shoeing of the horse is 

 not called for except in 

 frosty weather, contrac- 

 tion of the hoof is com- 

 paratively rare, in con- 

 sequence of the feet 

 being unfettered by that 

 iron band, the shoe 



THE FAST-TROTTING STALLIOX, GEORGE M. PATCHEN. ' 



This trouble is gradual in its approach ; the first indication 

 being a dry, brittle, unyielding hoof; the heels gradually be- 

 coming narrower, until they are painful. The hoof no longer 

 accommodates itself to the soft structure within its limits, and, 

 in consequence, the concussion is greater and the elasticity 

 very much less. The parts therefore become bruised, and fever 

 ensues, which still further facilitates the contraction of the hoof 

 by absorbing its moisture ; lameness follows as the natural and 

 inevitable result. Upon an examination of the animal sweenie 

 is decided upon by the horseman as the disease to which he 

 is subject ; a disease, by the way, which, we beg to say, the 

 veterinary surgeon never yet has met. 



The primary cause of this trouble is, undoubtedly bad shoeing, 

 the preventives of which have already been fully unfolded. 



