SAND-CRACK. ^l"l 



removing a portion of the lameness ; but if the lameness is extreme, either with or 

 without contraction, and especially if there is heat about the foot, the operation is dan- 

 gerous. There is, probably, ulceration of the membrane — possibly, decay of the bone ; 

 and the additional friction to which the parts would be subjected, by the freer action 

 of the horse, the sense of pain being removed, would cause that ulceration or decay to 

 proceed more rapidly until the foot would be completely disorganised, or the tendon 

 would be gradually worn through by rubbing against the roughened surface of the 

 bone. 



SAND-CRACK. 



This, as its name imports, is a crack or division of the hoof from above downward, 

 and into which sand and dirt are too apt to insinuate themselves. It is so called, 

 because it most frequently occurs in sandy districts, the heat of the sand applied to 

 the feet giving them a disposition to crack. It occurs both in the fore and the hind 

 feet. In the fore feet it is usually found in the inner quarter (see g, page 278), but 

 occasionally in the outer quarter, because there is the principal stress or effort towards 

 expansion in the foot, and the inner quarter is weaker than the outer. In the hind 

 feet the crack is almost invariably found in the front, because in the digging of the 

 toe into the ground in the act of drawing, the principal stress is in front. 



This is a most serious defect. It indicates a brittleness of the crust, sometimes 

 natural, but oftener the consequence of mismanagement or disease, which, in spite of 

 every means adopted, will probably be the source of future annoyance. On a hoof 

 that has once been thus divided, no dependence can be placed, unless, by great care, 

 the natural suppleness of the horn has been restored and is retained. 



Sand-crack may happen in an instant, from a false step or over-exertion, and there- 

 tore a horse, although he may spring a sand-crack within an hour after the purchase, 

 cannot be returned on that account. 



It is always necessary to examine the inner quarter of the foot at the time of pur- 

 chase ; for it has more than once occurred that, by low dealers, and particularly at 

 fairs, a sand-crack has been neatly covered with pitch, and then, the whole of the 

 hoof having been oiled, the injury was so adroitly concealed, that an incautious per- 

 son might be easily deceived. 



The crack sometimes does not penetrate through the horn. It then causes no lame- 

 ness ; nevertheless, it must not be neglected. It shows that there is brittleness, 

 which should induce the purchaser to pause; and, if proper means are not taken, it 

 will generally soon penetrate to the quick. It should be pared or rasped fairly out; 

 and if the paring or rasping has been deep, the foot should be strengthened by a coat- 

 ing of pitch, with coarse tape hound over it, and a second coating of pitch covering 

 this. Every crack should be pared or rasped, to ascertain its depth. If it penetrates 

 through the crust, even althougli no lameness exists, a firing-iron, red-hot, should be 

 passed somewhat deeply above and below it, in order to prevent its lengthening — the 

 edges should be thinned, to remove any painful or injurious pressure, and the foot 

 should be bound up in the manner directed, care being taken that the shoe does not 

 press upon the crust immediately under the sand-crack. 



If the crack has penetrated through the crust, and lameness has ensued, the case is 

 more serious. It must be carefully examined, in order to ascertain that no dirt or 

 sand has got into it; the edges must be more considerably thinned, and if any fungus 

 is beginning to protrude through the crack, and is imprisoned there, it must be 

 destroyed by the application of the butyr (chloride) of antimony. This is preferable 

 to the cautery, because the edges of the horn will not be thickened or roughened, and 

 thus become a source of after-irritation. The iron must then be run deeply across, 

 above, and below the crack, as in the other case ; a pledget of dry tow being placed 

 in the crack, in and over it, and the whole bound down as tightly as possible. On 

 the third day the part should be examined, and the caustic again applied, if necessary : 

 but if the crack is dry, and defended by a hard horny crust, the sooner the pitch plaster 

 is put on the better. 



The most serious case is, when, from tread or neglect, the coronet is divided. The 

 growth of horn proceeds from the coronary ligament, and unless this ligament is 

 sound, the horn will grow down disunited. The method to be here adopted, is to run 

 the back of the firing-iron over the coronet where it is divided. Some inflammation 

 ■will ensue; and when the scab produced by the cautery peels off, as it will in a few 



